Collusive induction in perverse relating: Perverse enactments and bastions as a camouflage for death anxiety

Abstract

The author argues that one of the main functions of perverse relatedness is to induce the analyst into becoming the patient's unconscious accomplice in a "perverse pact" against the analytic work aimed at disavowing intolerable aspects of reality. The intense power of collusive induction in perverse relating leads the analyst to participate in transference-countertransference enactments and to the crystallization of a silent and chronic unconscious collusion between the patient and analyst in the analytic field, stagnating the process (bastion; Baranger and Baranger). The author claims that analysis of perverse pathology should not be limited to interpretation of the patient's intrapsychic functioning but should also focus on the information obtained by the analyst through his participation in collusive enactments; the analyst should also take a "second look" at the analytic "field" to detect underlying bastions. The author reviews the main psychoanalytic contributions that have clarified the phenomenon of collusive induction in perverse relating and as an illustration, describes the analysis of a man with a perverse character; in this patient, one of the main functions of his perverse relatedness was to induce the analyst to become an accomplice in his disavowal of his terror of death. The author highlights the influence of death anxiety in the bastions that develop in the treatment of perverse patients.

Conceptual and Technical Aspects of Psychoanalytic Enactment: A Systematic Review

“…They also allow comprehension of how reality is perceived by the patient and how this perception is reflected in the attitudes of the analyst or therapist. Many authors refer to the existence of mutual coercive or persuasive influence in the phenomenon of enactment (Jacobs, 1986;McLaughlin, 1991;Levine, 1994;Feldman, 1997;Bateman, 1998;Katz, 1998;Hirsch, 1998;Friedman & Natterson, 1999;Cassorla, 2001Cassorla, , 2012Cassorla, , 2013Cassorla, , 2017Allen, 2002;Frank, 2002;Anchin, 2002;Weiss, 2002;Wurmser, 2003;Gerson, 2004;LaFarge, 2004;Zanocco, De Marchi & Pozzi, 2006;Ginot, 2007;Ivey, 2008;Yerushalmi, 2010;Steiner, 2011;Pagano, 2012;Strauss, 2012;Skogstad, 2013;Sapisochin, 2013;Bohleber et al, 2013;Nos, 2014;Kogan, 2014).…”

“…The intensity of the conflict interferes in the understanding of what is happening, and this leads to failures in sublimation. A blockage sets in that results in a reduction of reflective space (Jacobs, 1986;Chused, 1990;Reed, 1997;Feldman, 1997;Bateman, 1998;Hirsch, 1998;Burnstein & Cheifetz, 1999;Friedman & Natterson, 1999;Cassorla, 2001Cassorla, , 2012Cassorla, , 2013Cassorla, , 2017Goldberg, 2002;LaFarge, 2004;Varga, 2005;Bonovitz, 2009;Stern, 2009;Ginot, 2009;Pagano, 2012;Strauss, 2012;Boston Change Process Study Group, 2013;Sapisochin, 2013;Bohleber et al, 2013;Nos, 2014).…”

“…Feelings of responsibility may confuse an analyst and lead her to act according to meanings that are not yet clearly identified in the situation, thus weakening her therapeutic posture. Enactments therefore consist of obstructive interactions with collusions or states of impasse, making analytic evolution difficult (Chused, 1991;McLaughlin, 1991;Levine, 1994;Reed, 1997;Feldman, 1997;Bateman, 1998;Hirsch, 1998;Burnstein & Cheifetz, 1999;Allen, 2002;Frank, 2002;Wurmser, 2003;Gerson, 2004;LaFarge, 2004;Zanocco, De Marchi & Pozzi, 2006;Ivey, 2008;Stern, 2009;Bonovitz, 2009;Ginot, 2009;Steiner, 2011;Pagano, 2012;Strauss, 2012;Skogstad, 2013;Sapisochin, 2013;Cassorla, 2001Cassorla, , 2008Cassorla, , 2012Cassorla, , 2013Cassorla, , 2017Bohleber et al, 2013;Nos, 2014;Safran & Kraus, 2014).…”

“…This moment 'M' corresponds to a moment when a positive change begins, even though tension is felt at the beginning; or, as Bateman (1998) put it, to a turning point, or sudden break-up (Cassorla, 2001), an 'explosion' (Cassorla, 2008). The participation of the analyst as a narcissistic extension of the patient (a chronic enactment) is interrupted (LaFarge, 2004;Zanocco, De Marchi & Pozzi, 2006;Steiner, 2011;Cassorla, 2001Cassorla, , 2012Cassorla, , 2013Cassorla, , 2017Nos, 2014;Tuch, 2015;Coren, 2015).…”

The Ultimate Insight: the Patient’s Awareness of Mother’s Filicidal Wishes

“…Indeed, it is not too rare to hear women say that their children were an unwelcome accident, that their abortion was unsuccessful, that a child was a replacement for a deceased one, etc. (Nos ). In a popular biographical novel (Smilevski ), Adolphine, one of Freud's sisters, is supposed to have heard repeatedly from her mother that she was ill‐begotten.…”