Contents & abstracts

Theory and technique

Grassi L. The music of our origins in words and voice. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 221-234.

Music, which has its origins in intrauterine life, is one of the fundamental principles organizing the psyche and it plays a central role in the development of symbolization and relational capacities. Awareness of the musical aspects in mental functioning increases our receptivity to our patients’ different forms of childhood sexual expression and the unconscious aspects of our experience of the analytic encounter.

Touch, hearing and both proprioceptive and vibratory sensitivity are the first and most specific sensitivities to be activated, accompanied by the perception and production of rhythms. Drive-related childhood sexuality is expressed through the voice, words, rhythm and listening in a process of creative construction that is imbued with “the uncanny”.

Focus

Psychoanalysis beyond the couch

Ferrigno MP. Introduction. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 235-243.

After a brief excursus on the psychoanalytic literature dealing (from a variety of perspectives) with the extension of psychoanalytic work to a broader range of contexts, the author sets out to tackle the question of how psychoanalytically oriented work may fruitfully move out of the analysis room i.e., ‘beyond the couch’. She indicates certain specific and indispensable aspects – a clear working methodology and the training given to professionals – that constitute a fil rouge accompanying and connecting all the experiences described in the Focus section. The author maintains that the use of a psychoanalytic way of thinking and observing can not only bring about a fruitful change in the contexts in which it is deployed but also promote a greater and deeper understanding of emotional suffering, including within Institutions and working groups.

Adamo S MG. “Special Time”: the birth and development of a methodology. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 244-255.

The author describes the origin and development of Special Time, a method of intervention arising in Great Britain in the 1970s and seeking to offer children with difficulties the experience of a containing relationship within contexts of institutional belonging: crèches, kindergartens and group homes. The professionals taking on these children are, for the most part, educators and teachers operating according to psychoanalytical principles and supported by structured ‘spaces’ for reflection and supervision. The themes tackled include: a description of the problems presented by the children, the importance of offering them undivided attention, affinities with the method of psychoanalytic observation and, last but not least, technique, which differs from that of psychotherapy in that it does not envisage interpretations of transference.

Bevilacqua F, Bruno D, Cusumano G, De Marino F. “Rotten eyes” and a question of gaze: the fairy-tales technique at the service of well-being, thanks to the collective verbalization of emotions. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 256-274.

This article explores the “fairy-tales” method. This innovative technique uses fairy-tales as a tool for facilitating creative collective thought, thereby stimulating dialogue and integration between participants. Taking as its starting point the connection between fairy-tales and dreams as expressions of the collective unconscious, the article investigates the power of fairy-tales to foster emotional working-through and growth at both a personal and a group level. Through application of the method in the context of the F.A.T.E. Association (“The Italian Association of Families with Children or Adults suffering from Oesophageal Atresia”), the article illustrates how “telling fairy-tales” can contribute to creating a supportive and understanding environment, even in situations of great fragility and suffering such as those faced by children with oesophageal atresia and their families. The method offers a space in which emotions, fears and hopes can be shared and worked through again, thereby leading to new perspectives for care and acceptance.

Addabbo O, Dal Pra’ S. Taking care of those who are taking care: accompanying fragile states of motherhood. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 275-290.

The article presents the project set up by the Associazione La Stanza Blu (“The Blue Room Association”) to offer home visiting to women living an experience of fragile motherhood. Such preventive intervention should be activated when, during pregnancy or at the birth, there arise risk factors that can impact the mental life of a new mother and/or father, generating emotional turbulence, interfering with the primary relationship and compromising the well-being of the new-born child and its family. The article explores the origins of the service, its theoretical foundations, the structure of the working model inspired by psychoanalytical theory and the training process for the female professionals involved. The presentation of some cases supports the authors’ analysis of the functions of accompanying and staying close, thereby taking care of a person who is taking care and fostering processes of reparation and growth.

Study group for the “beyond borders” project - AIPPI (Rome local branch). Psychoanalytic experiences with migrants in places “beyond the couch”: narrating in order to find new meaning. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 291-305.

This contribution presents projects carried out in schools and within associations offering training and support for migrants. The projects were run by a group from the Rome local branch of AIPPI, which has been studying the complex phenomenon of migration and its related social, cultural and educational consequences for several years now. The article describes how the psychoanalytic model sets processes of transformation and integration in motion even when applied in the context of interventions ‘beyond the couch’. This through the use of observation, the creation of settings defined by time and space (easy-access counselling services and discussion groups in various contexts) and a narration of the participants’ experiences that dynamizes the inner world’s relationships and makes it possible to access different meanings. In addition, the article highlights how the specific nature of work with migrants requires a consideration of the continual conflict between the culture of origin and that of the receiving country. This with the goal of fostering the process of identity integration.

Clinical reflections

De Vita C. A Tibetan bridge. cumulative primary trauma and resurfacings during adolescence. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 306-317.

The work focuses on wide-ranging very early traumatic experiences that are linked to failed tuning and regulation in the primary relationship. Referred to as “cumulative primary trauma”, these original failures play a central role in the deterioration of primary sensoriality during puberty. Cumulative primary trauma can represent the hidden ‘first act’ of an adolescent breakdown. In this case, the adolescent will find him/herself dealing with a body that – as the drives emerge – carries the memories of that earliest traumatic time within itself. The passage through the process of puberty and the investment in the sexed body will lack the support needed due to the absence of a positive sharing of the erogenous body. A clinical excerpt illustrates how the very early body-mind dissociation comes back to make itself felt, putting the adolescent’s mental balance at risk.

The enchanting screen

Bruno G. Lilo & Stitch (2002). Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois.
Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 318-322.

D’Amato G M. Mother (2009). Directed by Bong-Joon-Ho. Richard & Piggle, 32, 3, 2024, 323-326.

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Contents & abstracts