Playing and working through: a neglected analogy.
The author proposes an analogy between certain features of playing and aspects of working through. Conceptualizing psychoanalysis as the process whereby unconscious fantasy is uncovered and then subjected to rigorous scrutiny, and building on Freud's (1908) insight that play is the same as fantasy--with the essential difference that fantasy links itself to real objects in play, such as toys and playthings--the author proposes that play can be thought of as not merely symbolic, as a fantasy bearer, so to speak, but as a fantasy tester as well. In the process of working through, some analysands attach their unconscious fantasies not only to a transference object, a primary libidinal object, or a significant loved one, but also to actual props within the analytic setting (a Kleenex box, for example), making the analogy with play even more obvious and palpable.
Mahon
Eugene J
EJ
Ejmahon@aol.com
D000328:Adult; D001601:Bereavement; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012649:Self Concept