The concept of Psychic Energy holds a very important position in the field of Psychoanalysis, particularly within the theories of Sigmund Freud. These ideas, including the notion of a constancy of excitation, or the ‘pleasure principle’, as well as energy transfer and ‘cathexis’, are important not only historically in terms of the subsequent development of Psychoanalytic theory, but also remain a core conceptual assumption of a number of concepts in contemporary use. However, the central ideas related to psychic energy have undergone little substantial revision or development since the end of Freud’s career, despite a number of compelling critiques that call into question the central definitions and assumptions of these concepts, particularly the principles defining their governance. Grobbelaar (1989) has suggested that a number of problems within Psychoanalytic theory can be powerfully addressed through recourse to central propositions from the field of systems theory, and the case is made in the present thesis that some of the core problems with the energic theory may indeed be the result of a pre-systems epistemology. The present study proposes that psychic energy be defined as recursively constituted through three levels of the human system (inorganic, organic and informational), and that the core principles of regulation at the informational level is not constancy, or pleasure, but rather the necessity of maintaining organisation. In line with this proposition, the study reviews a number of theoretical propositions from systems theory and cybernetics (including the notions of energy defined as ‘information’ or ‘free energy’) and how they may be usefully deployed as principles of organisation of psychic energy within the psychoanalytic framework. Examples of how these principles may be used to explain Freud’s core observations of ego functioning are presented as well. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pablo de Carvalho Godoy Castanho.pdf: 1864232 bytes, checksum: 6a13fce11cd4a971101fb376330d532a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Psychologists and other professionals have been increasingly asked to conduct groups in various types of organizations: health and social services, schools, companies etc... On the other hand, several well respected group theories were designed for group work in private practice and are thus not prepared to properly address such organizational environments and demands. But beyond the technical dimension, the ethical principles of such work must be addressed. Based on a psychoanalytical perspective, our stand is that such groups should aim at promoting spaces where experiences, lived in social situations, can be appropriated by symbolization, and, at the same time, should contribute to organizational and social changes whenever excessive suffering is produced and reproduced. We believe that the psychoanalytical technique can guide us thru the reflection about how groups can achieve such goals. On these lines, this thesis general goal is to propose the basis for a psychoanalytical model which could comprehend every psychological related group practice in organizations and which offers parameters to both establishing group s pertinence to each organizational context and providing for a detailed discussion of its conduction. Our method is mainly theoretical in which Pichon-Rivière s concept of task is central as we take it as a touching stone that a group task must absolutely be aligned with the organizational primary task in all cases. We employ key concepts form René Kaës to bridge group and psychoanalysis, allowing for a comprehensive psychoanalytical debate. From this debate, the main elements of our model emerge. We take the learning operative group and the group with mediating objects (highlighting the Fotolanguage©, as discussed by Vacheret) as the two group strategies (settings) of reference to all of our work. We propose that the transference with the task can be independent from the transference with a group conductor and that it selectively attracts psychic elements connected to certain social dimensions. We approach the problem of interventions in the group in terms of transference with the task interpretations and uses of parameters (according to Eissler´s terminology). Towards the end of the thesis, we will present three group strategies discussed in supervisions which shall illustrate and dialog with our ideas. We can thus establish the foundations of what we call Task Centered Psychoanalytical Groups / A demanda para que psicólogos e outros profissionais assumam o trabalho de coordenação de grupos em contextos institucionais tem crescido na atualidade. No entanto, muitas teorias de grupo foram desenvolvidas para o trabalho em consultório privado e estão pouco preparadas para responder a essas demandas institucionais. Este problema técnico exige um posicionamento ético. Baseados em uma perspectiva psicanalítica, nossa posição é a de que tais grupos devem promover espaços de apropriação, pela simbolização, das experiências vividas em instituições e, ao mesmo tempo (no plano vincular), contribuir para mudanças institucionais ali onde se produzem e se reproduzem sofrimentos excessivos. Entendemos que a técnica da clínica psicanalítica pode nos guiar para pensar a técnica de grupos com tais objetivos. Esta tese tem, portanto, o objetivo geral de construir as bases de um modelo psicanalítico que possa abranger todas as práticas psi com grupos em instituições, propondo parâmetros para estabelecer a pertinência de cada grupo a seu contexto institucional e para uma discussão detalhada de sua coordenação. Nosso método é sobretudo teórico, no qual o conceito de tarefa, tomado de Pichon-Rivière, impõe-se como elemento central na medida em que consideramos absolutamente fundamental que a tarefa de um grupo seja consonante com a tarefa primária da instituição onde ocorre. Utilizamos conceitos-chave do pensamento de René Kaës como ponte entre a psicanálise e o grupo, possibilitando um amplo debate psicanalítico do qual emergem as bases do modelo. Identificaremos os grupos operativos de aprendizagem e os grupos com objetos mediadores (destacando a Fotolinguagem©, tal como concebida por Vacheret no segundo) como os dois dispositivos de referência em nosso trabalho. Propomos pensar a transferência com a tarefa do grupo como independente da transferência com o coordenador, e descreveremos sua força de atração específica de elementos do psiquismo ligados à dimensão institucional. Podemos assim abordar a problemática das intervenções nos grupos em termos de manejos e interpretações na/da transferência com a tarefa. Rumo ao final da tese, far-se-á a apresentação e análise de três dispositivos de grupo em situação de supervisão que ilustrarão e problematizarão nossas ideias. Esperamos estabelecer, deste modo, os alicerces do que denominamos Grupos Psicanalíticos Centrados em uma Tarefa