Rethinking the "Removal and Return of Bad Objects" through some Reflections on a Case of Child Analysis

Journal title PSICOANALISI
Author/s Silvia Cimino
Publishing Year 2021 Issue 2021/2
Language Italian Pages 8 P. 29-36 File size 140 KB
DOI 10.3280/PSI2021-002002
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In this paper the author attempts a reinterpretation of Fairbairn’s essay by narrating some passages from a child’s analysis. Internalized bad objects exist in everyone’s psyche, but at varying degrees. Some of the fundamental factors that will define the vicissitudes of these ob-jects within the psychic apparatus are the degree of badness with which they are characterized, the nature with which the Ego identifies with such objects, and the strength of the defenses that protect the Ego from such objects. The clinical material presented demonstrates how, when the inner world is populated with "devils", perceived as bad objects released into the unconscious, they can be so terrifying that they cannot be dealt with, and that only through analysis can we hope to find ways of possible psychic elaboration.

Keywords: bad objects, child analysis, cruelty, psychic processing.

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Silvia Cimino, Ripensare a "La rimozione e il ritorno degli oggetti cattivi" attraverso qualche riflessione su un caso di analisi infantile in "PSICOANALISI" 2/2021, pp 29-36, DOI: 10.3280/PSI2021-002002