This theoretical study brings together Carl Jung’s active imagination and Robert Desoille’s “rêve éveillé dirigé/directed waking dream” method (RED). Such a rapprochement is two-fold. Firstly, it aims to study the historical development of these two approaches in Central Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. Secondly, it aims to explore their theoretical similarities and differences and proposes implications for a hybridised and integrated framework of clinical practice. The first part of the study contextualizes Jung’s active imagination and RED in the broader psychotherapeutic currents practised at the time. Furthermore, this work analyses them through the geo-historical background of twentieth century France and Switzerland. It also goes on to investigate key historical intersecting points where Jung and Desoille, as well as their disciples, crossed paths. The second part of this study is a theoretical comparison between C. G. Jung’s active imagination technique and Robert Desoille’s directed waking dream method (RED). This work compares the spatial metaphors of interiority used by both Jung and Desoille to describe the traditional concept of inner psychic space in the waking dreams of Jung’s active imagination and Desoille’s RED. This study also attempts a broader theoretical comparison between the procedural aspects of both RED and active imagination by identifying commonalities and divergences between the two approaches. The comparison is built on a comparative methodology based on five operatively important categories chosen from the literature review. These are related to the therapeutic practice and procedures of both waking dreams and include: setting and preparation of the body, structure and directivity by the analyst/therapist, transferential and counter-transferential relationship, narratives, and interpretation. Such a comparison also helps to explore the implications for an integrated- hybridised framework of clinical practice i.e., a RED-based approach to active imagination that fills an important gap in post-Jungian writings on active visual imagination as well as offering a long-awaited acknowledgement of the RED method.

A lot has been written about money but little about the clinical fee and even less about the analyst’s relationship with this important aspect of the therapeutic dyad. This project researched psychoanalytic psychotherapists' and psychoanalysts' thoughts and feelings about the clinical fee. By beginning with Freud, this thesis explores how, historically, aspects of money have been discussed, and illustrates from both historical and current perspectives that little attention has been paid to it. Looking at how money is contextualized within psychoanalytic discourse may shed some light on why the clinical fee can be an arena that is fraught with anxieties, avoided by analysts and analytic institutions. This thesis explores the reasons why this area has been little researched, which may be because the clinical fee is associated with primitive thoughts and feelings regarding money and consequently avoided, leading to an absence of open and transparent discussions on this significant aspect of the therapeutic frame. This thesis discusses how these primitive roots of our relationship with money may lead to avoidance of discussion concerning the clinical fee, and explores some conflicts that underpin this avoidance. This thesis looks at the analytical fee from the point of view of the analyst and analytic training organizations. More often than not, when any attention has been paid to the clinical fee, fee-related issues have been left with the patient. This thesis raises two questions and two hypotheses which are addressed: 1. Is the clinical fee a difficult issue for therapists? 2. If so, what are the conscious and unconscious psychodynamics that make it difficult? Twelve therapists who are psychoanalytically trained and/or psychoanalysts, kindly agreed to take part in this project, and were interviewed for this investigation.

The purpose of this mixed method study carried out in an NHS mental health setting was to elucidate the connection between what was presented in the consulting room as OCD and how it is used to mask early object relations failure, which re-surfaces in adulthood as difficulties within the arena of sexual intimacy. The literature review identified the theoretical and empirical evidence for this hypothesis and highlighted gaps in the current understanding within psychoanalytic thought and object relations perspectives. The theoretical concepts used to understand the clinical data was based on Melanie Klein’s Object Relations Theory. The textual analysis of structured interviews identified levels of obsessive compulsive symptoms and sexual perception categorized as sexual esteem, sexual depression and sexual pre-occupation. Qualitative data was collected from a single case study and provided contextual information including unconscious material. The results of the quantitative study provided evidence for the intensity of OCD and identified negative sexual esteem and negative preoccupation as the dominant features within the sample; whilst the single case-study found evidence that OCD rituals and ruminations were used to mask disruptions in object relations which were noticed in anxious sexual relations. The conclusions of the study offer an important consideration for the treatment of OCD in an NHS setting. It adds to the psychoanalytic theory of obsessional neurosis in relation to the unconscious actions involved during sexual relations. Recommendations for further research include additional quantitative research with a larger sample and analysis of additional single case studies to provide additional evidence of the concept. Key Words: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Object, Object relations, Object Relationships, Projection, Sexual Intimacy, Symbol Formation.

One of the main diagnostic criteria of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is an absence of empathy. The concept of empathy does not feature greatly in the literature of the British Psychoanalytic Object Relations Schools. However, the work of both Klein and Bion suggests that there is a normal development of empathy: from ‘part-object’ to ‘whole-object’ relationship. Given this, the development of empathy should be central to the treatment of those with BPD. The communal structure of the Therapeutic Community (TC) would appear to offer an ideal environment in which to foster the development of empathy. This study explored the development of empathy in individuals who have a diagnosis of BPD and had completed a year in a TC. Three women, drawn from one TC, were interviewed in a pilot study. The textual analysis of these interviews suggested an increased appreciation of their thoughts and feelings and an empathic understanding of themselves and others. The interviews of four female, from a different TC, were analysed in the main study. No increase in empathy was identified. These participants reported being taught to manage their symptoms through repression of destructive thoughts and behaviours rather than through the development of empathy. Tentative conclusions and future research: 1. At least in some circumstances people with BPD can increase in empathy: insight, self-reflection, and changes in self-experience; 2. The fact that some participants showed no increase in empathy while others did may reflect individual differences in response to the intervention; and/or 3. There may be critical elements of the TC experience which promote the development of empathy; these elements need to be identified to make interventions more effective.

When we dream, Freud (1900) maintained, we slip backwards from a world of conscious action to an unconscious realm of infantile memory and desire. The residues of our waking life meet there with repressed primitive wishes capable of animating a dream. The idea of regression, with all of its intrigue, would shape a century of theory building. It would also become one of the thorniest, if recently neglected, areas of inquiry. The history of the concept attests to two interwoven but distinct traditions. One tradition emphasizes the defensive, or evasive, function of regression. The other calls attention to potential non-defensive, restorative functions. Both traditions rely problematically on what Hartmann (1965) termed the genetic fallacy: the reduction of later forms to their original precursors. The genetic fallacy, in turn, supports a morality of maturity whereby unwanted aspects of human experience, which we recognize to be universal, are nonetheless attributed uniquely to children or to images of the child within. I shall argue, contrary to the theory of regression, that the person is inextricably nested in the present field of lifespan development. What were formerly considered regressions are better described as shifts, or transformations, within the field. The pathologies of regression are best seen, not as the result of regressive arrest/fixation, but as adaptations to cyclical lifespan problems. I articulate the theoretical propositions behind this reframe and explore its application in two case histories, one of a defensive regression, one of restorative regression, in the recent literature.

Curiosity is central to the psychoanalytic endeavour, yet there has been little development of it as a psychoanalytic concept. As an internal experience it is not readily objectively identified. Alternatively it is possible to identify and operationalise defences against it. My approach is based on a model in which curiosity is a dimension of separation. It is a result of integration, of the conflux of several lines of development and as such it is tolerant of separation, but there is an oppositional state that is intolerant and tension exists along this pole. The significance of this model is that the elusive concept is approached via its defences that are capable of operational definition. The oppositional pole is identified in the regressive defence of voyeurism and of disavowal. They have the appearance of curiosity but are defences against it. I used transcripts of interviews with psychoanalytic practitioners and applied an iterative process in moving between data and theory to identify and classify these defences. The movement from tolerance to intolerance within the clinical situation is hypothesised to relate to the difficulty in tolerating the process of accreting forms of evidence of the whole object demanded by separation. There are therefore two joined segments to this thesis: the characterisation of curiosity as distinct from its defensive replacements and the demonstration of curiosity as a dimension of separation. My thesis rests on linking these two aspects. The separation hypothesis supports the idea that the defences betray intolerance, while curiosity is tolerant, and the demonstration of the appearance of the defences supports the separation hypothesis. My approach is novel in bringing curiosity into relief via analysis of its disguised defences and in articulating its explicit relation to separation.

The proposed study investigates the subjective experience and meaning of Involuntary Dislocation (ID) and its impact on couple relationships. This research is innovative in so far as (a) it investigates families and couples relationships and not individuals, (b) it examines the ID phenomena from a unique combination of perspectives that includes psychoanalytic as well as wider psychosocial dimensions, (c) it focuses not only on the negative effects of ID but also includes Retained Strengths (Resilience) as well as acquired new strengths (Adversity-Activated Development (AAD)), (d) it examines an unusual and unique example and specimen of ID, i.e. the Bulgarian Turks who were moved from one type of home (Bulgaria, the land of their ancestors) to another type of home (Turkey, the land of their cultural, religious, linguistic and ethnic origins). The theoretical framework of this research is informed by a unique combination of psychoanalytic theory and practice, psychosocial perspectives and Papadopoulos' Adversity Grid. Overall, the study explores (a) what actual negative effects did Involuntary Dislocation have on the research participants and their relationship as a couple, and what conditions contributed to the development of these effects, (b) what actual positive effects did Involuntary Dislocation have on the research participants and their couple relationship, and what conditions contributed to the development of these effects, and finally, (c) what positive strengths, behaviours, characteristics, relationships' qualities that existed before the onset of Involuntary Dislocation have been retained, despite the research participants' exposure to the adversity of ID. To explore these complex and intertwined effects, five couples were recruited from among the members of the Balkan Turks Association in Turkey. The research participants were chosen from among those who had been forced to leave Bulgaria in 1989, after the pervasive assimilation campaign. These couples were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire based on the researcher’s expertise in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The interviews were analyzed using the method of qualitative thematic analysis that uniquely combines the above-mentioned three perspectives. The concluding discussion provides an in - depth analysis of the specific patterns and mechanisms that couples employ to experience and process adversity as a consequence of Involuntary Dislocation. Involuntary dislocation and couple relationships constitute both a highly complex and multi-layered phenomenon. Results indicated that the Retained Strengths of the couples helped to overcome some of the negative effects derived from ID. These strengths included being hardworking, maintaining a stance of patience, and holding onto community values such as religious affiliation, solidarity, protection of those in need, honesty, and cultivating positive social networks. However , emotional difficulties were only partly compensated for by adversity activated developments such as improved self confidence, pride, gaining freedom and peace, accessing better jobs, being exposed to broader culture and feeling s of hope. Overall, these helped the couples succeed in being functional and balancing their expectations and aspirations for the future. By perceiving the outside world as dangerous, they keep the couple relationship as a shelter and avoid conflicts by not sharing negative feelings. This works unfortunately against the development of internal space, limiting the capacity of the couple for psychological containment.

How does experience become a psychoanalytic idea? The case of Ferenczi may provide an answer. Ferenczi played an important and yet controversial role in the development of psychoanalysis. Most of the past Ferenczi studies are either about Ferenczi’s psychoanalytic ideas or life. The former usually point towards Ferenczi’s foresight and creativity in advancing the psychoanalytic movement. The latter, focus more on his relationship with Freud, especially his suffering and wounds, see him more as a victim. These two streams of research, however, rarely cross over one another. This thesis, a psycho-biographical one, provides this missing perspective. Ferenczi is noted for his introjective character, as Borgogno (2011) names him the ‘introjective psychoanalyst’. Amongst Ferenczi’s ideas, Introjection is chosen for this study because the phenomenon behind this concept may be prevalent in his relationship with Freud. This relationship is for him to gestate his ideas, not just intellectually but experientially, i.e., psychoanalytically. Given Ferenczi’s merging life with psychoanalysis, it is hypothesized that as and before Ferenczi writes about Introjection, he has been living it in this relationship. I search for evidence for this hypothesis by meticulous mapping of the connection between this relationship and Ferenczi’s writings, using historical documents, notably correspondence, and published papers, available. In this historiographic and conceptual study, I strive for a more historically informed position between denigration and idealization in the restoration of Ferenczi and his idea. It is important, given the controversial nature of his character and ideas. This study would throw light on Ferenczi’s inner and relational world and their connection to introjection. It is concluded that the hypothesis is supported. Although Ferenczi pays a price, his idea evolves and lives on. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the making of an idea and advancement of knowledge in the history of psychoanalysis.

Research has shown that loneliness and social isolation have a significant negative impact on the physical and psychological health of older adults living in the UK, impacting not only on their quality of life, but on society as a whole through increased use of health services. There is a movement, however, that is committed to alleviating loneliness in older adults through befriending: where an unrelated volunteer gives their time to provide companionship on a regular basis to an individual in their own home. Drawing on the author’s personal experience as a befriender, there is an emotive and affective dimension to caring, that is often contradictory and conflictual, and that is missing from the current, predominantly descriptive qualitative literature in this area. Applying psychoanalytic concepts to sociological and psychological research, specifically the free association narrative interview technique (Hollway and Jefferson, 2000) and using transference and countertransference to support analysis and interpretation, produces data that contradicts previous views of the volunteer as rational, intentional, and coherent in their understanding and explanation of their own behaviour. This study has shown that the befriending experience is highly affective and often conflictual, producing similar anxiety that the both the befriender and the organisation through which they volunteer strive to alleviate. There are conflicting tensions between caring and sacrifice and in between being a friend but in fact restricted in the ‘behaviours’ that constitute this friendship. A richer understanding of the experience of befriending, from the point of view of the befriender, can help support organisations in the recruitment and retention of volunteer befrienders, as well as helping to develop further befriending services for older people based on this new knowledge.

Voluntary childlessness (VC) is a growing phenomenon in the 21st Century in western societies with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in 2013 showing that one-fifth of women are childless at the age of 45. Sociological literature highlights how VC is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon and is often difficult to define. However, since its inception, psychoanalysis has made an inextricable link between femininity and motherhood thus psychoanalytic theory views motherhood as normative and it is often seen as a developmental stage. This thesis explores how psychoanalytic practitioners understand, conceptualise and respond to VC in the clinical setting. Four psychoanalytical practitioners were interviewed and three main themes arose as a result of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of the data collected. The first finding highlighted the biopsychosocial pressures that the participants felt their patients experienced. Some participants spoke of the professional pressure they experienced from within the psychoanalytic field as a result of the theory that links motherhood and femininity. The second finding highlighted the ethical dilemmas faced by some patients with regards to whether to become a mother, such as a VC choice might be the result of difficult childhoods, immaturity, or because their mental health issues precluded them from motherhood or they feared motherhood might induce mental illness. The final finding highlighted that working with childless patients was both complex and conflictual. The practitioners discussed both their personal professional responses to childlessness in general. This research is important for highlighting how psychoanalytical practitioners are influenced by the competing discourses in society surrounding motherhood. Finally, the thesis critically evaluates the research, makes suggestions for future enquiries and reflects on the clinical implications of the findings.