Reawakening Desire: Shame, Mourning, Analytic Love, and Psychoanalytic Imagination

As psychoanalysts we have grown used to thinking of our patient’s problems as rooted in past relationships and attachment patterns. We try focus on the conflictual traumatic events formative years relate them current difficulties that bring into treatment with us. However, where severe or recurrent trauma has led a sense dread hopelessness regard future, also confront death desire complex intertwined relationship desire, shame, parental abuse and/or neglect. This takes us heart transference/countertransference configurations, moves gently from exploration subjunctive, “would I could” present therapeutic relationship. paper will (1) between (2) way which subjunctive constitutes contains mourning, (3) hope, psychoanalytic imagination. An extended clinical example be presented.