Epilogue: The Turn Toward Embodiment

The history of psychoanalysis has been marked by a series of “turns.” Freud himself initiated turns from his trauma theory to his drive theory and from his topographical to his structural model of mind. References have been made to postmodern and ethical turns. And perhaps the most influential turn in recent times has been the relational turn. We believe that the articles in this issue lend credence to the idea that embodiment represents an equally encompassing turn, one that has been in the works since the birth of psychoanalysis. Freud himself famously noted that “the I (ego) is first and foremost a bodily I.”

It is the variety of perspectives mapped out in this issue that has emboldened us to suggest that the word “turn” captures the movement toward embodiment now sweeping our field. Donnel Stern’s exploration of the formulated and unformulated, Siri Gullestad’s notion of relational scenarios, William Cornell’s examination of mind-body splits, Gianni Nebbiosi’s and Susi Federici’s development of the role of miming in clinical practice, Steven Knoblauch’s consideration of intersectional categories and hierarchies of power, and Doris Brothers’ and Jon Sletvold’s revisioning of traditional psychoanalytic concepts might strike us as disparate, unconnected investigations. Yet, when considered in terms of the different ways that these authors have used the concept of embodiment, they resemble separate streams flowing toward the same rolling river.

We foresee a great swell of contributions that will deepen and enrich our understanding of embodiment in years to come. Still, it remains to be seen how they might change the ways in which future analysts will think and work.

Doris Brothers, Ph.D.

Jon Sletvold, Psy.D.

Issue Editors

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Doris Brothers, Ph.D., serves on the advisory board and council of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP). She was a co-editor of Psychoan