Entre nós: tramas e traumas em busca da confiança

Abstract

This work presents through clinical experience the difficulties found in the technique based on object relations theory by Melanie Klein, when used with neurotic patients who present difficulties in their relationship. Making use of clinical material, such difficulties are considered to be the revelation of autistic states, as evidenced by Sidney Klein, Francis Tustin and others. The hypothesis is that as their pre-symbolic experiences of sensory nature had been left unprocessed by a primary object that could not think and feel them, they remained unprocessed. It is suggested according to Judith Mitrani, that these undeveloped sensory experiences became fortified protections against the awareness of states of terror related to precocious bodily and emotional separation, and so, against the experience with the primary object. When exposed their primitive auto sensual experiences, persons are shown to be used as inanimate things to keep them untouched by pain and to gain sensation of existence, safety and impermeability. These are their inbuilt set of reactions provoked by the mother bodily separateness, without the experience of a mothering person: it is a survival mechanism. As central aim this work discusses the importance of discriminating autistic state from others, since the impossibility of object relation brings the necessity of avoiding interpretations considering proper such relation. As suggested, these patients construct a mode of adhesive pseudo-object-relations, where stereotypic patterns are used and may remain, unless the analyst discovers alternatives to the technique to achieve with them the development of the primordial confidence. Through a clinical case with an adult patient presenting such mental structure, it is proposed alternatives such as the analyst allowing himself to be used as an autistic object by the patient, until he manages to get out of his protections, revealing them. Making use of theory and technique offered by some authors it is suggested that patients, such as the one presented, might overcome a state where the other remained a thing , to reach a state where this other becomes someone the patient may possibly demonstrate desire of being near