Encapsulated body engrams and somatic narration – Integrating body memory into psychoanalytic technique

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8970909
AutoresSebastian Leikert (Indipendent Researcher, Saarbrücken, Germany, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen102
Número4
Páginas671-688
Fecha de publicación2021-06-28
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00207578.2021.1927044
PMID34180784
OpenAlexW3176205262
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas6

Beginning with the observation that a good integration of soma and psyche is often missing in our work with severely disturbed analysands, two concepts are discussed that focus constellations of bodily encoded unconscious material, which needs a specific form of working-through. The concept of encapsulated body engrams referring to defence structures revolving around the inhibition or disorganization of an affective bodily impulse is outlined. The imbalance arising this way is perceived as a foreign body within the body-self. These engrams are repetitive and are not susceptible to symbolic transformation. Parallels between the encapsulated body engram, the autistic objects (Tustin, F. 1980. "Autistic Objects." International Review of Psycho-Analysis 27: 27-39) and Freud's theory of inhibition (Freud, S. 1926. "Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety." SE 20: 77-175) are discussed. To unblock encapsulated engrams, body feelings emerging in the chain of associations are understood as attempts to communicate. In a process called somatic narration these perceptions are contextualized with other bodily sensations. The working-through of this material in transference and countertransference is described in the light of Lombardi's concepts (Lombardi, R. 2017. Body- Mind Dissociation in Psychoanalysis - Development after Bion . New York: Routledge). Two case reports precede the theoretical discussion

Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Countertransference · Emotive · Engram · Epistemology · Feeling · Literature · Narrative · Parallels · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Unconscious mind · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Neurology and Historical Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology