Weaving deceptive webs and untangling emotional truths

AbstractThis paper explores how the allure of magical thinking andgroupthink contrasts with intuition of emotional truth. Since truth can terrify, the author suggests that a longer learning curve is needed to apprehend what Bion (1970a) called the “evolving O” of the analytic session. Traumatized patients are described asdream weavers who spin webs of partial truths and lies around their true selves. For the analyst, untangling these webs involves what Bion (1970b) calls an “act of faith.” Clinical material is presented to show howgroupthink and other concretions of thought can, under favorable circumstances, be transformed on the wings of psychic truth. Alternatively, uncontained violent emotions can become calcified, creating a carapace over the chrysalis of the patient ’s true self. The author concludes that the analyst’s desire for a particular treatment outcome can unwittingly lead to the formation of an adhesive web where healthy analytic culture becomes a cult. Paradoxically, it is only when there is equal attention to emotional truth and lies that a traje ctory of growth is likely to evolve.
Source: The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research