Somatic Retreats: Seeking Refuge in Your Own Body

In this article, the author attempts to look at the concept of “autistic objects” and “autistic shapes” formulated by Frances Tustin from the perspective of contemporary trends in both psychoanalysis and the psychiatric understanding of autism spectrum disorders. The author highlight the theoretical modifications introduced by Tustin and propose a perspective that has the potential to bring Tustin's views into alignment with both psychoanalytically oriented developmental psychology and with neurodevelopmental understandings of autism spectrum disorder. Against this background, the author propose the concept of “somatic retreat” as a clearly delineated term that reflects Tustin's idea of a person's defensive withdrawal from the outside world to protect themselves from awareness of their own separateness, fragility, and mortality by immersing themselves in the world of sensual self-stimulation. The author present examples of “somatic retreat” from everyday life, and then describe a clinical example in more detail. The author way of working with the patient was based in part on the recommendation of Lombardi, who, while appreciating the achievements of Tustin, emphasized the need for a more radical focus on the functions of self-stimulation, and not on its symbolic meaning.