“Dissociative Turn”and its Implications in Psychoanalysis
Historically,
dissociation is a topic that Sigmund Freud did not particularly welcome in his
psychoanalytic theories. This was against the background of his conflict with Joseph
Breuer, Pierre Janet
and Sándor Ferenczi. Since then, as Glover (1943) expressed, the term
dissociation has a “chequered hisoty”(p.12) in psychoanalysis. However, since
Steven Marmer (1980) took “a first step in posing a psychodynamic formulation
for multiple personality (p.455), there seems to be a “growing chorus of
American thinkers” “who hopes to rescue dissociation from obscurity” in the
theory of psychoanalysis (Goldman, 2012. p. 338). The topic of dissociation has
been discussed in an increasing number in the psychoanalytic literature. A psychoanalytic
research engine (Pepweb) indicates that its number doubles
in each decade for the past 40 years (405 between1980~1989, 935
between 1990~1999, 1629 between 2000~2009, and 2461 between 2010~2019).
This movement can potentially
invite some major reorganization in the psychoanalytic literature, that Sheldon Itzkowitz
(2015) referred
to as the “dissociative
turn.” So, what is it about his “turn”? In his compacted paper
with the same title, Itzkowitz (2015) mentions as follows.
Glover, E. (1943) the concept of dissociation. Int.
J.Psychoanal,, 24:7-13.
Marmer, S. (1980) Psychoanalysis of Multiple Personality. Int. J. Pssycho-Anal.
61,439-459.
The actuality of trauma during infancy and early
childhood is recognized as a key factor leading to the emergence of dissociative
process, the potential dissociative structuring of the mind and the mind being
characterized by multiple, discontinuous, centers of conscious. Therapeutic
goal in the psychoanalytic work with fragmented patients is to establish
communication and understanding between the dissociated self-states (p.145) .
This statement can potentially have enormous implications for the
psychoanalytic way of conceptualizing human mind. However, Itzkowitz
did not elaborate on any particular ways in which the “turn” should occur and
in what direction. In this article, I attempt to elaborate on what Itzkowitz
might mean from my own standpoint.
1．Mind being characterized by multiple, discontinuous, centers of consciousness.
2．The actuality of trauma during infancy and early childhood.
3．Establishing communication and
understanding between the dissociated self-states as the Therapeutic goal.
