O sentido da amizade em Ferenczi: uma contribuição à clínica psiquiátrica

Abstract

This thesis looks into the possible meaning ascribed by Ferenczi to friendship. Considerations are made starting from an exam of Ferenczi s personal relationships with his peers, and in his work. The importance of a reflection on friendship, especially in the present-day analytic field, comes from a concern with the challenges created in the scope of the contemporaneous psychoanalytic practice. The author regards the liberalism prevailing in contemporaneous culture as contributing to the shaping of subjectivities that are fairly resistant to the acceptance of conditions by means of which psychoanalytic therapy usually develops, namely, through verbal communication. On the other hand, decrease in sense of responsibility and in critical thought nowadays, implicit in choices and decision-making, appears as an adverse circumstance to the analytical situation. One of the aspects of resistance arises from ego formation which we can characterize as both, plastic and rigid, the functioning of which works according to circumstances, since individuals are not, truly, as free as one is led to expect in the present times. Ferenczi, dissenting partially from Freud, gives prominence to the importance of affection in interpersonal relationships, notably in the therapeutic sphere, so that he emphasizes the importance of regression and countertransference in the analytical process, in order to achieve a point of equilibrium on the patient s psychic economy. Therefore, starting from the importance given to the implications of friendship in Ferenczi s technical experiments and in the considerations he made, this thesis places it as an important variant in conducting analytical treatment. As a support to this theme, the author resorts to Philosophy, to get a broader of the view the meanings historically attributed to friendship. The main bibliographical support for this conclusion is a trilogy published by Franscisco Ortega, in which is explored this theme, from Antiquity to contemporaneity. Other philosophers, from whom this author has gathered insights, are Derrida and Foucault. As a conclusion, it is advisable that the analyst takes into consideration the cultural background and ethical values influencing the patient s process of subjectivation, and refrains from remaining oblivious to the suffering of the patient; in fact, the analyst should not abstain from showing himself as a friend of the patient, to a certain degree. With this, it is understood that analyst must involve himself more and more in the analytical process, also coming forward as a friend, provided it would be therapeutic.