While action is increasingly viewed as ubiquitous throughout psychoanalytic treatment, our understanding of why it occurs is limited by rudimentary views of verbalization and action. Dynamic and genetic interpretations of action, usually given at a time of resistance impasse, give only a partial explanation of the phenomenon. The question is explored of why the behavior may appear in the form of action, as well as its implication for interpretive strategies. A major premise is that the role of the ego has been overlooked, especially modes of thinking associated with earlier developmental levels.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anthi, P. R. (1983). Reconstruction of preverbal experience. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 31:33–59.
2.
Apfelbaum, B. & Gill, M. M. (1989). Ego analysis and the relativity of defense: technical implications of the structural theory. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 37:1071–1096.
3.
Arlow, J. A. & Brenner, C. (1990). The psychoanalytic process. Psychoanal. Q., 59:678–692.
4.
Boesky, D. (1982). Acting out: a reconsideration of the concept. Int. J. Psychoanal, 63:39–55.
5.
Busch, F. (1989). The compulsion to repeat in action: a developmental perspective. Int. J. Psychoanal, 70:535–544.
6.
Busch, F. (1992). Recurring thoughts on unconscious ego resistance. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 40:1089–1115.
7.
Busch, F. (1993). In the neighborhood: aspects of a good interpretation and a “developmental lag” in ego psychology. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 41:151–177.
8.
Busch, F. (1994). Some ambiguities in the method of free association and their implications for technique. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Ann., 42:363–384.
9.
Chused, J. F. (1991). The evocative power of enactments. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 39:615–640.
10.
Deutsch, F. (1947). Analysis of postural behavior. Psychoanal. Q., 16:195–213.
11.
Deutsch, F. (1952) Analytic posturology. Psychoanal. Q., 21:196–214.
12.
Downey, T. W. (1987). Notes on play and guilt in child analysis. Psychoanal. Study Child, 42:105–126.
13.
Flavell, J. H. (1963). The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.
14.
Freud, A. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. New York: Int. Univ. Press, 1966.
15.
Freud, A. (1946). The Psycho-Analytical Treatment of Children. London: Imago.
16.
Freud, A. (1965). Normality and Pathology in Childhood. New York: Int Univ. Press.
17.
Freud, A. (1968). Acting out. Int. J. Psychoanal., 49:165–170.
18.
Freud, S. (1910). ‘Wild’ psycho-analysis. S. E., 11.
19.
Freud, S. (1914). Remembering, repeating and working through. S. E., 12:147–156.
20.
Freud, S. (1915). The unconscious. S. E., 14:166–215.
21.
Freud, S. (1926). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. S. E., 20:87–174.
22.
Gray, P. (1973). Psychoanalytic technique and the ego's capacity for viewing intrapsychic activity. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 21:474–494.
23.
Gray, P. (1982). Developmental lag in the evolution of technique for psychoanalysis of neurotic conflict. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 30:621–656.
24.
Gray, P. (1986). On helping analysands observe intrapsychic activity. In Psychoanalysis: The Science of Mental Conflict. Essays in Honor of Charles Brenner, ed. A. D. Richards & M. S. Willick. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, pp. 245–262.
25.
Gray, P. (1990). The nature of the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 38:1083–1098.
26.
Gray, P. (1992). Memory as resistance and the telling of a dream. J. Amer. Psychoanl. Assn., 40:307–326.
27.
Grinberg, L. (1968). On acting out and its role in the psychoanalytic process. Int. J. Psychoanal., 49:171–178.
28.
Hendrick, I. (1942). Instinct and the ego during infancy. Psyhoanal. Q., 11:33–58.
29.
Katan, A. (1961). Some thoughts about the role of verbalization in early childhood. Psychoanal. Study Child, 16:184–188.
30.
Loewald, H. W. (1971). Some considerations on repetition and repetition compulsion. Int. J. Psychoanal., 52:59–66.
31.
Loewald, H. W. (1975). Psychoanalysis as an art and the fantasy character of the psychoanalytic situation. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 23:277–299.
32.
McLaughun, J. T. (1987). The play of transference: some reflections on enactment. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 35:557–582.
33.
McLaughun, J. T. (1991). Clinical and theoretical aspects of enactment. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 39:595–614.
34.
Meyers, W. A. (1987). Actions speak louder than words. Psychoanal. Q., 56:645–666.
35.
Piaget, J. (1930). The Child's Conception of Physical Causality. London: Kegan Paul.
36.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1959). The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books.
37.
Reik, T. (1937). Surprise and the Psycho-Analyst. New York: E. P. Dutton.
38.
Ritvo, S. (1978). The psychoanalytic process in childhood. Psychoanal. Study Child, 33:295–306.
39.
Roughton, R. (in press). Action and acting out. In Psychoanalyis: The Major Concepts, ed. B. E. Moore. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
40.
Sandler, A. -M. (1975). Comments on the significance of Piaget's work for psychoanalysis. Int. Rev. Psychoanal., 2:365–377.
41.
Sandler, J., Kennedy, H. & Tyson, R. L. (1980). The Technique of Child Analyisis: Conversations with Anna Freud. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
42.
Schlessinger, N. & Robbins, F. P. (1983). A Developmental View of the Psychoanalytic Process: Follow-up Studies adn Their Consequences. New York: Int. Univ. Press.
43.
Searl, M. N. (1936). Some queries on principles of technique. Int. J. Psychoanal., 17:471–493.
44.
Shapiro, T. & Perry, R. (1976). Latency revisited. Psychoanal. Study Child, 31:79–105.
45.
Wolff, P. H. (1967). Cognitive considerations for a psychoanalytic theory of language acquisition. In Motives and Thought: Psychoanalytic Essays in Honor of David Rapaport, ed. R. R. Holt. Psychol. Issues, Monograph 18/19. New York: Int. Univ. Press, pp. 299–342.
