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The therapeutic aspects of affect
International Journal of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
|January 1, 1975
Summary
Psychoanalytic work with affects, though lacking a formal definition, offers therapeutic benefits by integrating emotional and cognitive development. This process enhances ego functions and allows for more mature emotional expression.
Area of Science:
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychology
- Psychotherapy
Background:
- A definitive psychoanalytic theory of affects remains undeveloped.
- Clinicians currently utilize a practical, common-sense approach to affects in psychoanalysis.
- This approach aids in coordinating affective and cognitive structures during therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the therapeutic advantages of working with affects in psychoanalysis.
- To examine how undoing defenses facilitates affective and cognitive integration.
- To present a developmental hierarchy of affects observed in analysis.
Main Methods:
- Review of historical theories of affects in psychoanalysis.
- Clinical case examples illustrating the handling of affective expression.
- Analysis of the integration of primitive affective experiences into mature cognitive structures.
Main Results:
- Undoing defenses enhances the ego's integrative capacities.
- A developmental progression of affects is observed, from primitive to adult expressions.
- Therapeutic gains result from integrating past affective experiences into current cognitive frameworks.
Conclusions:
- Psychoanalytic work with affects, despite theoretical gaps, yields significant therapeutic benefits.
- Integration of affective and cognitive structures improves ego functions and emotional regulation.
- Understanding affect development is crucial for effective psychoanalytic treatment.
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