PSYCHIC REALITY: ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DEFENCES INVOLVING NEGATIVE MECHANISMS

摘要

The Chairman opened the panel at this very full meeting and displayed the lively good humour that characterised his chairmanship. He proposed to call on the speakers to read their papers, and after that to open the discussion on this fascinating but complex issue. The first panellist, Michael Parsons, began by discussing the 'analytic stance'. This was not simply the attitude with which one approached the patient: it applied to the way one read analytic literature or had analytic thoughts. It brought with it a slight sense of tension, since effort was needed to stay attuned to psychic, as opposed to ordinary, reality. It meant saying 'no' to something to which we habitually said 'yes'.