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Related Experiment Videos

The conflict between mourning and melancholia.

John Steiner1

  • 1john@jsteiner.co.uk

The Psychoanalytic Quarterly
|March 16, 2005
PubMed
Summary

This study explores the internal conflict between accepting loss and denying it, often seen in psychoanalytic therapy. Resolving this conflict allows patients to begin the mourning process.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Psychoanalysis

Background:

  • Explores the intrapsychic conflict between accepting and denying loss in clinical psychoanalytic material.
  • Focuses on a patient's analysis nearing termination.

Observation:

  • The conflict over loss manifested as a clash between morality and reality.
  • This internal struggle was externalized in the patient-analyst relationship.

Findings:

  • For the patient, relinquishing resentment toward the analyst equated to abandoning the ideal object and omnipotence.
  • As the analysis progressed, the patient's complaints weakened, making the conflict over loss more conscious.

Implications:

  • Increased consciousness of loss conflict facilitates the mourning process.
  • Understanding this dynamic can inform therapeutic interventions for patients struggling with loss and denial.

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