A plea for affirmation Relating to states of unmentalised affects

In some patients, among them the so-called psychosomatic patients, somatically-experienced affects are not transformed into words and symbols. Due to deficient mentalization, affective arousal is not linked to a meaningful and emotionally experienced self-representation. These patients do not experience affects as their own, and the analyst does not get through to their self-state by way of interpretation. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on the concept of “affirmation” and to argue in favour of affirmative interventions, supplementing classical interpretation, in the treatment of patients with deficient affect mentalisation. It is further argued that intonation and the sound quality of the analyst's voice play a decisive part in conveying affirmative messages to the emotionally isolated patient

Cognitive science · Epistemology · Plea · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Law · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Psychology

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