POTENTIAL SPACE AND REFLECTIVE FUNCTIONING TOWARDS CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION AND PRELIMINARY CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

摘要

The authors propose that although the psychoanalytic constructs 'reflective functioning' and 'potential space' overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably, a knowledge of their distincitions and the ways in which they interface have important clinical implications. These concepts are similar in that both the capacities considered (1) to originate in the caregiver- child relationship, (2) to involve playing with ideas and symbolic thought, (3) to facilitate the therapeutic process and (4) to represent a desirable treatment outcome.