Psychoanalytic perspectives on migration and finding the psychic home within.

摘要

Human migration is a global phenomenon which has been investigated from psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary perspectives.; In this study, the factors that lead to successful psychological migration, as well as the factors that lead to failure, have been examined. The phenomenon of migration has been studied both as a trauma of psychological loss on the one hand, and as a significant opportunity for self discovery and satisfying psychological integration into a new culture on the other.; This research study is a microcosmic psychoanalytic exploration of the phenomena of migration. It is concerned with the details and nuances of inner psychological struggles and transformations of individual migrant clients in the process of working through the migration trauma. The individual experience of a particular migration process is shaped by a variety of psychological and environmental factors. In this study, particular attention was paid to such factors as a pre-migration history, the migrant's identity and new environment (as seen through the psychoanalytic conceptual lenses) in the assessment of the migrant situation and possible outcome(s) of migration.; This is a psychoanalytic clinical research project which is centered on the individual composite case studies and which follows the traditional psychoanalytic model of case studies used by Freud who created and developed psychoanalysis.; The novel methodology employed qualitative research based on composite clinical case histories developed for this study. The sample of clients was selected who had migrated from Eastern Europe to the United States in order to investigate what factors lead to successful migration and what factors lead to failure of psychological migration. The in-depth approach of using British object relations theory and method of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with clients from Eastern Europe living in the United States was employed.; The collected data consisted of files, notes and other clinical archival data comprising the cases developed for this study. Through the reflective clinical composite case histories written heuristically, the essence of the trauma of migration and integration into a new culture was investigated.; Therefore, the essential foundation for this research project is in-depth clinical work with migrant clients in the process of migration. The clinical data is essentially clinical material collected through psychoanalytic observations about psychological processes of Eastern European migrants in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and in the process of migration and integration into the new culture.; This clinical data was used in order to arrive at this research project's clinical conclusions related to finding out what factors lead to successful migration and what type of migrant can make a successful migration into a new world.; Particular attention in this study was paid to pre-migration experiences and very early psychological developmental factors, which perhaps are most important in the outcome of the psychological migration process.; In conclusion, it was discovered that the migration process itself is very traumatic irrespective of how healthy a migrant may be. The psychoanalytic work with migrant clients confirmed that in the assessment of the migrant situation it is important to consider the migrant's pre-migration history, identity as well as the new environment which will significantly influence the outcome of the migration. The early factors related to pre-migration history and early psychological development played the most significant role in the outcome of the migratory process.; The clinical case material strongly indicated that those migrants who had very early psychological disturbances had much greater difficulties in dealing with the psychological trauma of migration. Migrants with basic psychological capacities to mourn, to form healthy relationships and endure difficult feelings had a much greater chance of successfully going