The spider’s silence: A psychoanalytic tale

Journal title SETTING
Author/s Stefano Golasmici
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/45 Language Italian
Pages 14 P. 75-88 File size 230 KB
DOI 10.3280/SET2023-045006
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Silence is a mysterious psychic experience: what is there in silence? Words have mysterious character because they carries multi-faceted meanings with evocative and symbolic power. But silence maintains an additional aura of darkness: while with words it is possible to start an evocative activity through images, thoughts, ideas, considerations that arise in the therapeutic encounter, in silence everyone remains trapped in their own world. What is expressed and what is satisfied in a person who is simultaneously silent and in relationship with the analyst? Another way to articulate this question is to ask what is the drive (libidinal-aggressive) that fuels silence and what kind of defense is at work. Many considerations arise from the experience of silence during a psychotherapy with a young man.

Keywords: silence, transfert, countertransfert, defence

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Stefano Golasmici, Il silenzio del ragno: un racconto psicoanalitico in "SETTING" 45/2023, pp 75-88, DOI: 10.3280/SET2023-045006