How does a psychoanalyst grapple with the sudden impact of a traumatic loss in their personal life, and how does it reverberate in their professional capacities? How do analysts navigate the challenges associated with illness or the inevitable effects of aging?Moving beyond the various losses in real life, analysts face the challenge of dealing with the loss and mourning of their illusions—illusions of immortality and invulnerability. Analysts are tasked with confronting their own finitude and limits, contemplating how to approach and address them. In this podcast episode, Marc Hebbrecht delve ..read more

The place of sexuality in psychoanalytic treatment and training today: Can we observe a disappearance of sexuality in case reports and supervisions?      How does the evolving discourse on sexuality influence psychoanalytic practice and training? In an era where sexual dysphoria is seemingly on the rise, particularly among younger generations, questions arise about the current positioning of Freud's drive theory and the status of sexual issues in psychoanalytic education. Are we witnessing a shift where sexuality loses its central place within psychoanalytic thought? In thi ..read more

Still Life with Fruit and Wineglasses on a Silver Plate, c. 1659-1660, Willem Kalf. Courtesy Mauritshuis, The Hague.   Why do some people seem unable to achieve full satisfaction in things? What keeps them dissatisfied even after achieving their goals? And why does the Ego persist in avoiding mourning and sticking to the same solutions? In this episode of the IPA Talks On Psychoanalysis podcast series, Salman Akhtar presents his theory that redefines the classical Kleinian conception of the rupture between Gratification and Satisfaction as a consequence of the death instinct derived atta ..read more

A plea for a third topicality. An intrapsychic representation of the intersubjective bond, even before the discovery of the object.   Can psychoanalysis be useful with infants? How can we think through concepts of metapsychology with infants? The two Freudian topics are in reference to the instances which are fruit of the completed intrapsychic differentiation process. How can they be useful with infants, who by nature are still undifferentiated and unfinished? In this episode Bernard Golse presents us with his arguments for a third topical approach. Drawing on his extensiv ..read more

How can we think about the Oedipus complex today in a contemporary society beset by a crisis of ideals and the emergence of new forms of sexuality? Neurosis has not disappeared, but borderline states have become a prevalent adaptive mode in a world lacking solid authority figures and sinking into symbolic misery. In this episode, François Richard is proposing his concept of the distorted Oedipus complex. Beginning with theoretical conceptions of Freud and then of his successors, he is suggesting that a specific form of the infantile oedipus complex persisting in  adolescents and adults, g ..read more

Our self is always there and present throughout our whole life. Despite the many social, environmental and ecological changes as well as the major bodily changes, our self remains one and the same throughout the changes of our life. Where and how is the temporal continuity of our self coming from?   Georg Northoff is a philosopher, neuroscientist and psychiatrist, holding degrees in all three disciplines. He works in Ottawa/Canada holding a Canada Research Chair for Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics. His research focuses on the relationship between brain and mind. The question driving ..read more

What is the relationship between the mind and the body, and how does it shape our understanding of the self? In this episode, Rosa Spagnolo presents her reflections on the topic, published in her recent book, written with Georg Northoff. In the book, she delves into how out-of-body experiences can shed light on the complex dynamics between the self and the world.  She examines  the relationship between the body and the brain, the role of time and space in shaping our experience of the self, and the intersection between psychoanalysis and neuroscience. Along the way, she touches on th ..read more

Happiness is humans' undeniable desire, but why does it seem so within reach for some, and so rare and difficult for others? What makes it possible from the psychic perspective? In this episode, Dr. Marion Minerbo shares with us, in a clear and concise voice, her studies on the aptitude for happiness. The author describes brief moments of happiness and from them highlights the psychic elements engaged in making this experience possible. Firmly based on psychoanalytic theory and illustrated with simple everyday life moments, she illuminates and clarifies what she calls aptitude for happine ..read more

This paper was published in The Italian Psychoanalytic Annual issue 16, in 2022. The full text can be found on the publisher Raffaello Cortina's website: https://riviste.raffaellocortina.it/scheda-articolo_digital/stefano-bolognini/hidden-unconscious-buried-unconscious-implicit-unconscious-Annual_2022_7-3814.html The current extension of the concept of the Unconscious to different levels, configurations, and functioning of the mind is the result of decades of collective reflection on clinical work as well as on theory. Analysts today have a broader, more refined and complex knowledge of defens ..read more

For those interested in the extensive written version on which this short talk is based, please contact the author at jfartaloytia@gmail.com .   From the Freudian conception of psychic bisexuality to the current approaches of transgenderism, the question of gender has knocked at the door of psychoanalysis to account for its articulation in the social context of its time. The different ways that people position themselves in life, confronts us with the challenge of thinking psychoanalytically about gender today. Thus, this episode is entitled “Why and what is gender for?”. J ..read more