A realidade psíquica segundo Sigmund Freud e suas implicações no tratamento psicanalítico

Abstract

This master's thesis aims to problematize the notion of psychic reality introduced by Sigmund Freud and discuss its implications for psychoanalytic treatment. Guided by Lo Bianco, we understand that it is by consulting the works and articles written by Freud, Lacan and other authors in the field that we seek to circumscribe the concepts in psychoanalysis, a procedure that is often understood as an extensive bibliographical review. Nevertheless, the methodology adopted is not about reproducing the considerations made by the authors, but questioning them, examining the construction of concepts and their origins and, above all, recognizing that they are not constructed arbitrarily. The concept of psychic reality has its origins related to the abandonment of the seduction theory, according to which the etiology of hysteria would be associated with early sexual experiences that occurred in childhood with an older child or an adult, usually the father. However, he notes that it would be impossible for the father to be perverse in all cases of hysteria; if so, perversions should occur on a larger scale. Later, Freud affirms that there is a psychic reality, distinct from the so-called material reality. Freud concludes that, although material reality has its importance, psychic reality is decisive for psychoanalytic treatment. Fantasy is a fundamental concept with regard to this problem, since it is correlated with psychic reality. In the article "Creative Writers and Day-dreaming", from 1908, Freud establishes an analogy between children's playing and fantasizing in adulthood, so that fantasy would concern psychic reality, not material reality. It is important to highlight two distinct designations of the term 'reality' in the German language and used by Freud, namely Realität and Wirklichkeit. The first has its origin in the Latin word res, which was used by medieval thought and by Descartes in expressions such as res cogitans (thinking thing) and res extenso (extended thing); thus, Realität concerns reality as a thing, refers to the notion of external or material reality. The second designation is related to the Greek word physis, which has a verbal origin and means “to bring forth” or “to produce”. Freud frequently uses both German terms, which seems to indicate that there is no clear conceptual opposition between the two realities; that is, the psychic reality is not another reality, but the very operating reality of the unconscious system, which produces effects on the subject. The concept of psychic reality implies the constitution of work direction and clinical listening that make up the practice of psychoanalysis. In order to identify and discuss the clinical elements that psychic reality implies, we present the cases of Anna O.'s hysteria, which, although she was not a patient of Freud, is a famous case that presents fundamental clinical elements for the present discussion, Elisabeth von R. and Dora. It is highlighted that the psychic reality is the operating reality in the unconscious system, which implies a subjectively divided subject. Precisely by considering this division, Freud was able to found a theory of the psychoanalytic clinic.