Reporting for duty: the paternal function and clinical formulations

The author highlights some developments in the theory of the preoedipal paternal function and paternal functionary and incorporates these ideas in developing clinical formulations for four clinical cases that privilege the preoedipal paternal function. In particular, four aspects of the preoedipal paternal function are identified, and for each a clinical case is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the necessity of widening clinical formulations to ensure clinicians have the widest possible set of clinical ideas and hence interventions and techniques at their fingertips.