https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2022.709
A relational psychoanalytic perspective on trauma, dissociation, and their relationship to psychopathology and borderline organisation
Submitted: July 6, 2022
Accepted: October 7, 2022
Published: December 30, 2022
Accepted: October 7, 2022
Abstract Views: 1183
PDF: 152
PDF (Italiano): 674
PDF (Italiano): 674
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The paper considers two of the most discussed concepts within the relational perspective in psychoanalysis: dissociation and trauma. Placed within the Italian relational tradition and reflection for over 25 years, the authors propose a model of trauma, dissociation and borderline organisation to highlight their clinical perspective on these phenomena and on the fundamental function of the dissociating mind in a specific psychopathological perspective. Starting with clinical observation of descriptive and phenomenological levels and a model of the psychic processes involved, this contribution aims to reflect on the traumatic experience and how dissociation articulates a possibility of psychic life and residual vitality. Considering the functioning of the individual and his relationships, the paper also focuses on the outcome that dissociation has on the existential aspects of the subjectively and/or objectively traumatic experience. The aim was to provide the clinician with an observational, conceptual and operational perspective that allows for a diagnostic grasp of the different levels of functioning of the patient’s mind. The paper in particular focuses on the level of borderline organisation and the specific related psychopathology. Reflection on borderline organisation invites us to connect mind, body, relationships and affections in a systemic manner, from the perspective of attachment and the multiplicity of subjective experience, trying to give maximum emphasis to the specificity of the person in front of us, to his or her subjective resources and multiple levels of functioning.
Adler, G. (1985). Borderline psychopathology and its treatment. New York, NY: Aronson.
Albasi, C. (2006). Attaccamenti traumatici. I modelli operativi interni dissociati. Torino: UTET.
Albasi, C. (2008a). Modelli operativi interni dissociati: una prospettiva relazionale sull’attaccamento, il trauma, la dissociazione. In Caretti, V., Caparo, G. (a cura di). Trauma e psicopatologia. Un approccio evolutivo relazionale (pp. 194-227). Roma: Astrolabio.
Albasi, C. (2008b). Modelli operativi interni dissociati, funzionamento mentale e psicopatologia. Abilitazione e Riabilitazione, 1, 9-36.
Albasi, C. (2009a). Psicopatologia e ragionamento clinico. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
Albasi, C., & Boschiroli, A. (2003). Sándor Ferenczi: per un pensiero clinico vivo. In A. Boschiroli, C. Albasi (Eds.), Incontrando Sándor Ferenczi. Temi ferencziani nella pratica clinica contemporanea. Bergamo: Moretti e Vitali.
Aron, L., Grand, S., & Slochower, J. A. (Eds.). (2018). Decentering relational theory: A comparative critique. London: Routledge.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315113609
Bergeret, J. (1974). La personnalité normale et pathologique: Les structures mentales, le caractere, les symptoms. Paris: Dunod. Tr.it. La personalità normale e patologica. Le strutture mentali, il carattere, i sintomi. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 1984.
Boschiroli, A. (2001). Il trauma e i fondamenti della vita psichica. Una proposta di S. Ferenczi. In Radure. Quaderni di materiale psichico, vol. I anno V (p. 19-38). Bergamo: Moretti e Vitali.
Boschiroli, A. (2003). Aspetti evolutivi e costruzione del sé: alcune ipotesi. In Boschiroli, A., Albasi, C. & Granieri, A. (2003) (Eds.). Incontrando Sándor Ferenczi: Temi ferencziani nella pratica clinica contemporanea (pp. 121-137). Bergamo: Moretti e Vitali.
Boschiroli, A. (2018). Quando una soggettività disorganizzata impedisce la costruzione di una soggettualità autentica. Psichiatria e Psicoterapia, 2018, 37-3.
Boschiroli, A. (2020). Introduzione. In: Lichtenberg, J. D., Lachmann, F. M., Fosshage, J. L. (Eds.) Il Sé Prende vita: Sviluppo, lavoro clinico e la mente errante (pp. XI-XXX). Ed. Italiana a cura di Boschiroli, A. Roma: Giovanni Fioriti Editore, 2020.
Boschiroli, A., Albasi, C. & Granieri, A. (2003) (Eds.). Incontrando Sándor Ferenczi: Temi Ferencziani nella pratica clinica contemporanea. Bergamo: Moretti e Vitali.
Bromberg, P. M. (1998). Standing in the spaces. Essays on clinical process, trauma, and dissociation. New York, NY: The Analytic Press. Tr. it. Clinica del trauma e della dissociazione. Standing in the spaces. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2007.
Capello C., Albasi C. (1995), Paradigmi conoscitivi e studio della personalità. Le prospettive relazionali in psicoanalisi. In Lorenzetti, M. L. (Ed.), Psicologia e personalità (pp. 61-74). Milano: Franco Angeli,.
Dell, P. F., O’Neil J. A. (2009). Dissociation and the dissociative disorders: DSM-V and beyond. New York, London: Routledge.
Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (2001). Attaccamento e funzione riflessiva. Tr. It. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E. L., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. New York, NY: Other Press. Tr. it. Regolazione affettiva, mentalizzazione e sviluppo del Sé. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2005.
Gøtzsche P. C. (2015). Deadly psychiatry and organized denial. Copenhagen: People’s Press. Tr. it. Psichiatria letale e negazione organizzata. Roma: Giovanni Fioriti, 2017.
Herman, J. L. (1992a). Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 5(3), 377-391.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490050305
Herman, J. L. (1992b). Guarire dal trauma: affrontare le conseguenze della violenza, dall’abuso domestico al terrorismo. Trad. it. Roma: Edizioni Scientifiche MaGi.
Kernberg, O. F. (1967). Borderline personality organization. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 15(3), 641-685.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000306516701500309
Kernberg, O. F. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York, NY: Aronson Trad. it.: Sindromi marginali e narcisismo patologico. Torino: Boringhieri, 1978.
Kernberg, O. F. (2004). Aggressivity, narcissism, and self-destructiveness in the psychotherapeutic relationship. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Tr. it. Narcisismo, aggressività e autodistruttività nella relazione psicoterapeutica. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300101805.001.0001
Kutchins, H., & Kirk S. A. (1997). Making us crazy: DSM: The psychiatric bible and the creation of mental disorders. New York, NY: Free Press. Tr. it. Ci fanno passare per matti - DSM: la bibbia della psichiatria e la creazione dei disturbi mentali. Roma: Giovanni Fioriti, 2003.
Lewis, K., Caputi, P., & Grenyer, B. F. (2012). Borderline personality disorder subtypes: a factor analysis of the DSM-IV criteria. Personality and Mental Health, 6(3), 196-206.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1183
Lewis, K., Grenyer, B.F. (2009). Borderline personality or complex post-traumatic stress disorder? An update on the controversy. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 17(5), 322-328.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/10673220903271848
Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York, NY: Guilford. Trad. it.. Trattamento cognitivo-comportamentale del disturbo borderline. Milano: Cortina, 2001.
Lingiardi, V., e McWilliams, N. (Eds.) (2017). Psychodynamic diagnostic manual, second edition (PDM-2). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Tr. it. Manuale diagnostico psicodinamico, Seconda Edizione (PDM-2). Milano: Raffello Cortina, 2018.
Liotti, G. (1999). Il nucleo del disturbo borderline di personalità: un’ipotesi integrativa. Psicoterapia, 5(16/17), 53-65.
Meares, R. (2012). Dissociation model of borderline personality disorder. New York, NY: W. W.
Paradiso, D. (2012). L’ipocondria come ‘flashback relazionale’ psicosomatico. Abilitazione e Riabilitazione, 1, 7-26.
Paradiso, D. (2015). L’ipocondria dalla psicoanalisi classica alla prospettiva relazionale. Psichiatria e Psicoterapia, 34(4), 267-285.
Paradiso, D. (2017). Il paradosso della soggettività del terapeuta nella terapia di coppia. In: Ringstrom, P. (Ed.) Psicoanalisi relazionale e psicoterapia di coppia (pp. XVII). Ed. Italiana a cura di Paradiso, D. Roma: Giovanni Fioriti Editore.
Paradiso, D. (2018) I processi di desomatizzazione intersoggettiva nel trattamento psicoanalitico relazionale. Psichiatria e Psicoterapia, 37(3), 231-246.
Paradiso, D., Celentani, B., & Albasi, C. (2017). Analisi con metodo CCRT di una ricaduta di una paziente con Disturbo Borderline di Personalità. Psichiatria e Psicoterapia, 36(4).
Paradiso, D., Albertazzi, A., Izzo, F. (2022). Studio CCRT di una psicoterapia interpersonale di una paziente adolescente con disturbo borderline di personalità. Psichiatria e psicoterapia, forecoming. [In press].
PDM Task Force (2006). Psychodinamic diagnostic manual. Silver Spring, MD: Alliance of Psychoanalytic Organization. Tr. it. Manuale diagnostico psicodinamico. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2008.
Pao, P. N. (1979). Primitive internalized object relations: a clinical study of schizophrenic, borderline, and narcissistic patients: by Vamik D. V. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 48, 652-655.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2005). Developmental trauma disorder: toward a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric Annals, 35(5), 401-408.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20050501-06
Yeomans, F. E., Clarkin J. F., & Kernberg O. F., (2015). Transference focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. A clinical guide. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Tr. it. La terapia focalizzata sul transfert per il disturbo borderline di personalità. Roma: Giovanni Fioriti, 2017.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9781615371006
How to Cite
Albasi, C., Boschiroli, A., & Paradiso, D. (2022). A relational psychoanalytic perspective on trauma, dissociation, and their relationship to psychopathology and borderline organisation. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 33(s1). https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2022.709
Copyright (c) 2022 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Fulvio Frati, From ‘isolated mind’ to the ‘flight of the starlings’ , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 33 No. 3 (2022)
- Daniele Morelli, Laura Corbelli, Creativity in psychotherapy as a ‘co-reflexive dialogue between acting subjects’: a clinical and theoretical proposal , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 35 No. 2 (2024)
- Romina Coin, Some thoughts on the subject and relations , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 33 No. s1 (2022): Italy and its relational proposals
- Mariacarmela Abbruzzese, Enrico Vincenti, Reply to comments received , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 35 No. 2 (2024)
- Paolo Cozzaglio, Commentary on the clinical case: Altered states of consciousness , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 33 No. 1 (2022)
- Valentina Rodolfi, Reflections against the light on politics and its feelings: comments on the article ‘Passion and tenderness as political forces’ by Jô Gondar , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 34 No. 3 (2023)
- Rocco Filipponeri Pergola, Costanza Rosati, The school as a place for a ‘social clinic’ (PolisAnalysis) , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 33 No. 1 (2022)
- Paolo Milanesi, Death, anxiety and metaphysical experience , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 34 No. 1 (2023)
- Giuseppe Fulco, An interdisciplinary approach to the study of consciousness , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 33 No. 3 (2022)
- Attà Negri, Miriam Gandolfi, Response to Negretti and Zanardi's comments on the text 'Specific (Relational) Learning Disorders' by Gandolfi and Negri , Ricerca Psicoanalitica: Vol. 35 No. 1 (2024)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.