From knowledge to competence: reflections on theoretical work

In this paper, the author maintains that the language of the clinical situation is and should be that of common-sense psychology. The author argues that the languages of clinical theory and metapsychology are at a distinctive distance from clinical language. In fact, no theory could be produced, should this distance not be upheld. The function of clinical theory is to act as a corrective to the tendency of common-sense psychology to fall back into the banalities and prejudices of general ideology. In addition, the function of metapsychology is said to be that of scrutinising clinical theory and defining its range of operation. Due to the claimed distance between the common-sensical language of the clinical situation and the language of theory, the analyst must utilise specific "techniques" to appropriate the theoretical material and make it part of his competence and capacity for psychoanalytic action. This aspect of theoretical work is given the name "assimilation" and, in turn, relies upon a process where theoretical concepts are "deconstructed" as to their knowledge content.