Le rôle du Surmoi dans les séances de psychanalyse

After the Covid-19 epidemic, remote analysis will probably become more generalized. It only differs from analysis as conducted hitherto by the absence of the bodies of the patient and of the analyst in the same room. In “normal” analysis, this presence of bodies mobilizes on both sides sexual and aggressive desires that are immediately repressed. The unconscious superego sees to it that no representation of these desires makes its return towards consciousness, until a sufficiently disguised derivative of the repressed escapes its attention. This strange representation clearly stands out against the neutral background created by repression. It leads to interpretation. Remote analysis protects the analyst and the patient from any risk of fulfilling their desires. It therefore loosens the unconscious attention of the superego and liberates the patient’s speech. But the analyst must make increased efforts of conscious attention in order to interpret. Alongside the post-oedipal prohibitive superego, the post-adolescent protective superego plays a decisive role in making it possible for the patient to associate freely without seeing his analyst’s face, whether in his presence or at a distance.