Brief report concerning the outcomes of the two projects

Brief report concerning the outcomes of two projects
First project: Psychic currents and defenses, its relevance in theoretical and The aim of the investigation consisted in rescueing the value of Freud’s concept of psychic currents in the theory, the clinic and the research. Freud (1918b) used the term “psychic current” broadly when he tried to explain the complexity of the ego structure of the Wolf man: “In the end there were to be found in him two contrary currents side by side, of which one abominated the idea of castration, while the other was prepared to accept it and console itself with femininity as a compensation. But beyond any doubt a third current, the oldest and deepest, which did not as yet even raise the question of the reality of castration, was still capable of coming into activity. I have elsewhere reported a hallucination which this same patient had at the age of five” (pp. 84-85). Freud (1927e) described the theoretical and clinical significance of the concept in his paper on “fetishism”: one current of the ego accepts an unpleasant reality, while the other (viewing the world from the perspective of wishes) rejects it. The two currents make different transactions, among which we can include fetishism. The same concept was also subjacent to the Freudian description of the similarities and differences between fetishism and psychotic hallucinations (Freud, “Psychic current” is a concept at the crossroads between theoretical and clinical research. After introducing the second theory of the psychic processes in 1923, Freud switched to an attempt to reach a new panorama of clinical structures, especially in “Neuroses and psychoses” (1924b). He stated that the clinical structures can be understood by taking into account the main conflict the ego has to deal with. In the neuroses, the conflict (and the defense) is with drives and wishes, in the psychoses, the conflict (and the defense) is with reality, and in melancholia, the conflict (and the defense¨) is with the superego. But when Freud (1927e) tried to connect those proposals with clinical problems, he found that they were too restrictive, since clinical facts demanded a more complex conception. Clinical facts showed that in the same patient two positions, two psychic currents, could coexist: one opposed to wishes and the other one to reality. Thus, we see that “psychic current” is an intermediate concept, less abstract than Ego, Superego and Id, but less empirical than repression, disavowal, etc. Disavowal, for example, involves a combination of two psychic currents, one tallying with reality and the other one concording with wishes. The concept of psychic current requires that we consider: 1) theoretical discussions on the ego, its structure, its conflictive relationship with he drives, reality and the superego and with different inner sectors (other psychic currents), and the corresponding principal and complementary defenses and 2) clinical manifestations. Thus, “psychic current” is a useful concept for connecting theoretical discussion and Regarding the theoretical rescue of the concept, we were able to classify it’s main traits, as much as to put in evidence the links with the concepts of other authors, In regards the clinical application of the concept, we were able to show that it allows establishing links between fragmentary studies of the patient’s nuances and a more global approach of it, as much as between comparative studies of different As regards the systematic clinical research, the concept allowed us to establish strong links between the results of the studies of defenses in the episodes that the patient narrates (form his/her childhood, daily life, dreams, etc.) and the scenes One of the tasks consisted in precising the value of the concept in Freud’s work, which led us to develop papers that involve theoretical and terminological discussions (Maldavsky, 2008c, 2008b). We have suggested there that the concept of psychic currents is related Bion’s (1963a) proposal, who stresses that psychotic and non psychotic parts may coexist in the patients, or with Steiner’s Psychic retreats: pathological organizations in psychotic, neurotic, and borderline patients J Steiner (1995), who emphasizes the complexity of the psycho-dynamisms in the different pathologies. In our work (Maldavsky, et. al. 2007b) we suggest some links between the psychic currents (and their corresponding defenses). Among these links, which may be temporary or lasting, we find the coexistence, the conflict and the dominance-subordination, when a certain psychic current has an hegemonic character and the other one remains subordinated to the first one. After defining the main traits of the concept, we tried to show it’s applications in the clinical research. Aiming at this, we developed a cluster of clinical studies. Some of these studies were purely qualitative (Maldavsky, Roitman, Tate de Stanley, 2008; Maldavsky, 2008g, 2011; Alvarez, Maldavsky, Manson, 2008), but in others we resorted to the help of systematic methods. For that we studied systematically about 50 cases with the goal of testing the performance of this concept in the clinic and the research. In the present, the cases studied are about 200. In the systematic studies we applied a method (the David Liberman algorithm), which we have developed specially from the concept of psychic currents. This method allows detecting the defenses that are categorized with the criteria of the psychic currents (opposite to the wish, opposite to the reality, etc.). the method allows researching the discourse of the patients in the sessions in different levels of analysis: narrations, speech acts, words, para-verbal components, movements. In some investigations we studied the psychic currents in the patient’s narrations (Maldavsky, et al. 2009c; Maldavsky, 2008a; Koreck, Maldavsky, 2011; Neves, Maldavsky, Plut, Rembado, 2011; Gherardi, Alvarez, Perez Zambón, Scilletta, Maldavsky, 2011; Maldavsky, 2010c; Maldavsky, et al. 2009h; Maldavsky, et al. 2009g), in other occasions we studied the same concept in the speech acts (Maldavsky, 2008a; Maldavsky, et al. 2008; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, Argibay, 2011; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, Alvarez, Sneiderman, 2011; Maldavsky, Roitman, Álvarez, Neves, Britti, Tate de Stanley, 2010; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, 2011), in other opportunities we focused in the words (Maldavsky, 2010b; Maldavsky, 2010a). We also made two levels of analysis combined, such as the scenes narrated and displayed in the speech acts (Maldavsky, Roitman, Tate de Stanley, Alvarez, 2009). Likewise, we studied the scenes displayed in the speech acts as much as in the movements (Maldavsky, et al. 2007c; Durán, Cantis, García Grigera, Maldavsky 2008), etc. At the same time, we extended the research time to 50 members (mostly in the academic post-grade field), we developed inter-judge reliability tests (Maldavsky, et al. 2009f) and convergent validity tests (Maldavsky, 2009a; Maldavsky, 2008f; Maldavsky, 2008e; For example, we researched the psychic currents interacting in the moment where some patients decided to provoke self-inflicted injuries in his own body: one of the currents was functional and collaborative with the goal of the treatment, a second current was based on a failed disavowal and a third consisted in a more severe regression to a somatic alteration, like in alcoholic and other type of addicive manifestations, intending to protect the Ego from a reedition of a “primitive agony” (Winnicott, 1945) .This third psychic current was the most relevant in the moment when the patient decided to provoke an injury in his own body. (Scilletta, We have published a book (Maldavsky, et al. 2007e), papers in journals (Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, Alvarez, Sneiderman, 2011; Maldavsky, 2008a, 2008e, 2008f, 2010b), presentations in international congresses (Neves, Maldavsky, Plut, Rembado, 2011; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, 2011; Maldavsky, et al. 2009f; Maldavsky, Roitman, Tate de Stanley, Alvarez, 2009) in which we applied the concepts referred to the psychic currents in clinical investigations. Some collaborators resorted to these concepts to develop their magister (Scilletta, 2011; Stein de Sparvieri, 2011) or doctorate (Sánchez Antillón, 2011, Sneiderman, 2011, Torres, 2009) thesis. We have received several Grants in which we could continue with the research linked to the psychic currents. These grants showed mostly the interest of the agencies of research in the terrain of psychoanalytical investigation in the level of 2010: Consulting Grant from IPA for research on “Discourse Analysis and 2010: Grant from Fonsoft (Ministry of Science, Technology and Production Innovation, National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion) for scientific meetings on “Natural Language Processing (NLP) Tools applied to 2009: Research Grant from the Royal Society, UK (International Joint Projects 2009/R1), for a joint project with the University of Sheffield, UK on the study of “Natural language processing (NLP) tools applied to the When we proposed to continue with this research with the contribution of the IPA, we received a new grant to exchange with H. Kächele in Buenos Aires about the concepts and instruments that constitute the research method that we have developed for the analysis of the discourse. The aim of these exchange conferences consisted in establishing dialogues between researchers that apply the method and with H. Kächele to achieve a major coherence between the members of the team and to reach a major refinement in the development of the These conferences allowed us to create a strong enthusiasm and a more powerful coherence in the research team, they conducted us to a debate of sectors of the instruments and to the refining of the research methodology. Aiming at exchanging with H. Kächele we prepared an international conference to expose the different sectors of the method, it’s concepts and instruments, as much as some applications. To carry out this meeting we disposed from the main lecture hall of the university, where a major part of our academic activity is developed. The conference lasted 4 days, with 6 daily hours of exchange. Each day we carried out plenary conference about some sector of the method (instruments for the analysis of the narrations, the speech acts, etc.), followed by the exposition of the application of those instruments, with papers from the coordinator team that received the grant and from other members of the team that are professors or advanced students from the doctorate career. All these material was exposed in English or in French and was discussed among the members and particularly with H. Kächele. We include the program of that conference. Extraordinary meeting on the David Liberman algorithm (DLA) with special guest Horst Kaechele, Instituto de Altos Estudios en Psicología y Ciencias Sociales Members: Liliana Alvarez, Clara Roitman, Cristina Tate de Stanley, Delia Scilletta, 16.30 – 17 Liliana Álvarez: A three-level study (narration, speech acts and words) of the language in chronic organic patients with successful and failed medical 17 - 17.30 Elena Stein-Sparvieri: Web images as units of analysis 17.30 – 18 Cristina Nudel: Outils pour l’expertise et la clinique dans les délits sexuels intrafamiliaux. Dispositif grafique de lien-discursif (ADL) On the DLA tools and the harmonization of the outcomes of different levels of Lecturer: Cristina Tate de Stanley On the unit of analysis in the study of wishes in speech acts, applying the DLA 13.30 -14 Luis Stoppiello: Étude exploratoire longitudinale des premières 14 - 14.30 Ana Cassia: Study of wishes and defenses in the literary narrations 14.30 – 15 Carla Araceli Gherardi: Transvestism and psychic helplessness: A case 15.30 - 16 Ruth Kazez:: Étude du discours d'une patiente souffrant des handicaps sensoriel et moteur,en deux étapes du traitement. 16 – 16.30 Jorge Goldberg: Un apport du ADL à l'étude du changement clínique On the DLA dictionary: Word análisis and frequency distribution Methodological problems in the analysis of the para-verbal components Lecturers: David Maldavsky, José Maria Rembado 14. – 14.30 Nilda Neves, Liliana H. Alvarez and David Maldavsky: Research on couples, families and groups: The operationalization of the concepts of denegative 14.30 – 15 José María Rembado: On the changes of height in the frequency intonation: application of PRAAT and the DLA 16 – 16.30 Susana Sneiderman: Research and Diagnosis with the Desiderative Questionnaire” combined with the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA) After this meeting we have enriched the studies about the frequency distributions with the additions of a considerable number of subjects to the sample (Maldavsky, Argibay, De Simone, Perez Zambón, Plut, Stein, 2012a; Plut, Argibay, Stein, Torres, Maldavsky, 2012; Maldavsky, Argibay, De Simone, Perez Zambón, Otalora, Gómez Dolzer, 2012; Maldavsky, Argibay, De Simone, Perez Zambón, Plut, Stein, 2012b; De Simone, Argibay, Gómez Dolzer, Otálora, Maldavsky, 2012), we have carried out more refined investigations about the instruments for the analysis of the speech acts (Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, Argibay, 2011; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, Alvarez, Sneiderman, 2011; Maldavsky, Roitman, Álvarez, Neves, Britti, Tate de Stanley, 2010; Maldavsky, Scilletta, Perez Zambón, 2011), and we have also focused in the therapist’s discourse (Maldavsky, et al. 2009d; Maldavsky, Roitman, Tate de Stanley, Alvarez, 2009). The texts corresponding to these new investigations have been accepted to be presented in International congresses or in research journals. Alvarez, L. E., Maldavsky, D. y Manson, M. (2008). Sobre las fijaciones pulsionales, las defensas y su estado en un paciente con psoriasis, estudiado con el Algoritmo David Liberman (ADL). Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 11, 114- Bion, W. R. (1963a) Aprendiendo de la experiencia. Buenos Aires, Paidós, 1966. De Simone, L., Argibay, J. C., Gómez Dolzer, J., Otálora, J., Maldavsky, D. (2012) Frequency distributions of wishes in speech acts in the therapists´ discourse, SPR Durán, R. de, Cantis J., García Grigera H., Maldavsky D. (2008), A case of aphasia with motor and paraverbal fluency , SPR Meeting, Barcelona, 2008 Gherardi, C., Alvarez, L. H., Perez Zambón, S., Scilletta, D., Maldavsky, D. (2011) Research on wishes and defenses in parental relationships of 12 transvestite subjects, applying the DLA, SPR Meeting, Bern, Suiza, 2011 Goldberg, J., Maldavky, D. (2012) Factors intervening in the Alliance in adolescents’ psychotherapy, SPR Meeting, Virginia Beach, 2012. Kazez, R. Melloni, G. Maldavsky, D. (2012) Comparative study of the discourse of hearing mothers of deaf children. Detection of different moments after de diagnosis which lead to different therapeutic strategies, SPR Meeting, Virginia Beach, 2012. Koreck, M. S. Maldavsky, D. (2011) On the psychic organization of a patient with media bilateral temporal damage, 12th International Neuropsychoanalysis Maldavsky, D. (2008a) Un análisis de tres niveles (estructura psíquica, intrasesión, intersubjetividad) de una primera sesión de 15 años atrás (Ms. Smithfield) usando el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones, UBA, (2008b) Sobre las investigaciones de caso único y las combinaciones entre ellas, con especial referencia a la perspectiva de la intersubjetividad. Estudios sistemáticos con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Clínica e Investigación relacional, Revista electrónica de Psicoterapia, 2(1): 185-219 (2008c) El enfoque clínico freudiano, la investigación sistemática con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL) y el empleo de la estadística: un ensayo preliminar, Depsicoterapias, 22 de marzo de 2009. (2008d) Un estudio de validez convergente de los resultados de la investigación con el ADL y de su reelaboración estadística, Depsicoterapias, 23 de (2008e) Testeos de validez convergente del algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones, UBA, 14(1): 77-102. (2008f) Testeos de validez pre y posdictiva del algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Revista Acta Psiquiátrica, 55(1): 13-25 (2008g) Yo-realidad inicial: conceptos e investigaciones sistemáticas, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 11: 77-98. (2009a) Testeos de validez convergente, de validez de constructo y de validez externa del algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Summa Psicológica, 6(1): 125 (2010a) El empleo de herramientas informáticas en la investigación sistemática del discurso en psicología, Taller de Herramientas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural (PLN) aplicadas al análisis del discurso en psicología, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 14(2): 127-142. (2010b) Contribuciones del diccionario computarizado del ADL a las investigaciones clínicas, Taller de Herramientas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural (PLN) aplicadas al análisis del discurso en psicología, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 14(2): 143-157. (2010c) On the combination between wishes and pathological defenses in a couple relationship, studied with the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA), SPR (2011) Deseos y defensas en el discurso de Schreber y de pacientes afines. Un estudio con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Revista Científica do Centro de Estudos Psicanalíticos de Porto Alegre. Maldavsky, et al. (2007a) Tres casos de afasia: investigación de las erogeneidades, las defensas y su estado con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 10: 79-138 (2007b) Estudio exploratorio de un caso de afasia con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 10. (2007c) Un caso de afasia con fluencia motriz y paraverbal, Revista Summa (2007d) Un caso de afasia estudiado con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Revista Acta psiquiátrica y psicológica de América Latina, 54(2): 96-111. (2007e) La intersubjetividad en la clínica psicoanalítica. Investigación sistemática con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Editorial Lugar, Buenos Aires. (2008) El caso Z (Donnet y Green) revisado. Investigación sistemática de las erogeneidades y las defensas en el contexto intersubjetivo con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Clínica e Investigación relacional, Revista Electrónica de (2009b) Comparative study in psychosomatic patients: analysis of drives and defenses in psoriatic and asthmatic patients using the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA), SPR Meeting, Santiago de Chile, 2009. (2009c) Diagnóstico de un paciente con una adicción, una tentativa suicida y estallidos graves de violencia. Una aplicación del algoritmo David Liberman (ADL) a una entrevista clínica, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 13: 90-143 (2009d) The therapist’s attunement during the first session: a clinical research on 20 cases using the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA), SPR Meeting, (2009e) Research on couples, families and groups. The operationalization of the concepts of denegative pact and narcissistic contract, SPR Meeting, Santiago (2009f) Two inter-judge reliability tests of the applications of the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA), SPR Meeting, Santiago de Chile, 2009 (2009g) Self-inflicted injuries, SPR Meeting, Santiago de Chile, 2009. (2009h) Narcisistic contract in a couple. A research with the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA), SPR Meeting, Santiago de Chile, 2009 (2011), Manualización y pruebas de confiabilidad y validez de los instrumentos del ADL para el estudio del discurso verbal, in press, UCES. Maldavsky, D.; Roitman C. y Tate de Stanley, C. (2008). Correntes Psíquicas e Defesas: pesquisa sistemática de conceitos psicanalíticos e da prática clínica com o algoritmo David Liberman (ADL). Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise Maldavsky, D., Roitman, C., Tate de Stanley, C., Alvarez, L. (2009) “A Three-level Analysis (Patient’s Clinical Structure, Patient’s Clinical Change, Intersubjectivity) of the First Session belonging to 10 Patients with their corresponding Therapists, using the David Liberman Algorithm (DLA)”, 46th IPA Congress, Chicago, 2009 Maldavsky, D., Roitman, C., Álvarez, L., Neves, N., Britti, A. M., Tate de Stanley, C. (2010) Sobre la investigación de los procesos subjetivos e intersubjetivos en psicoterapia de pareja, Revista electrónica de Psicoterapia, Clínica e Investigación Relacional (CeIR), 4 (3): 648-670, Octubre 2010. Maldavsky, D., Scilletta, D., Perez Zambón, S., (2011) On the unit of analysis in the study of wishes in speech acts, applying the DLA, SPR Meeting, Berna, Suiza, Maldavsky, D., Scilletta, D., Perez Zambón, S., Alvarez, L., Sneiderman, S. (2011) Investigación de los aportes positivos y negativos de paciente y terapeuta a la alianza terapéutica. Un estudio con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, 15(1): 146-176, Mayo de 2011. Maldavsky, D., Scilletta, D., Perez Zambón, S., Argibay, J. C. (2011) Sobre la unidad de análisis para el estudio de los deseos en los actos del habla con el algoritmo David Liberman (ADL), Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, en prensa. Maldavsky, D., Argibay, J. C., De Simone, L., Perez Zambón, S., Plut, S., Stein, E. (2012a) Distribución de frecuencias de los deseos en las palabras de pacientes y terapeutas en psicoterapia. Un estudio con el diccionario computarizado del algoritmo David Liberman, Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones, UBA, en Maldavsky, D., Argibay, J. C., De Simone, L., Perez Zambón, S., Otalora, J., Gómez Dolzer, J., (2012) Aplicaciones de las distribuciones de frecuencias de los deseos en los actos del habla de pacientes y terapeutas en la investigación clínica con el algoritmo David Liberman, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, en prensa. Maldavsky, D., Argibay, J. C., De Simone, L., Perez Zambón, S., Plut, S., Stein, E. (2012b) Frequence distributions of wishes in words and speech acts in the patients´ discourse, SPR Meeting, Virginia Beach, 2012. Neves, N., Maldavsky, D., Plut, S., Rembado, J. M. (2011) Research on wishes and defenses in violent episodes and their antecedents, SPR Meeting, Berna, Plut, S., Argibay, J. C., Stein, E., Torres, S., Maldavsky, D. (2012) Distribución de frecuencias de los deseos en las palabras correspondientes a discursos presidenciales, Subjetividad y procesos cognitivos, en prensa. Sánchez Antillón, A., Maldavsky, D. (2008)On the values and ideals of the psychoanalysts, studied with the David Liberman algorithm (DLA), SPR Meeting, Scilletta, D., Maldavsky, D. (2009) Self-inflicted injuries, SPR Meeting, Santiago de Sloin de Berenstein, R., Maldavsky, D. (2012) Research of a schizophrenic patient’s main conflictive traits in the sessions, during the restitutive period, applying DLA, SPR Meeting, Virginia Beach, 2012. Steiner, J. (1995) Psychic retreats, Routledge, London. Títolo, C., Maldavsky, D. (2012) Research of the mother-child relationship in a severe case of infant apathy, applying DLA, SPR Meeting, Virginia Beach, 2012. Winnicott, D.W. (1945). Primitive emotional development. In Through Paediatrics to Psychoanalysis, collected papers (Ch 12). 1958. London: Tavistock.

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