Just as formerly recalled screen memories may be remembered again in the course of psychoanalysis, so new screen phenomena can arise during the treatment process. This paper attempts to relate the process of reconstruction and the occurrence of a type of screening. It is proposed that, under certain circumstances, psychoanalysis can result in a mutually determined screen construction that both patient and analyst consider convincing and valid but which may, for the most part, actually be untrue as a result of the screen function. Screen memories arising during the reconstructive process resemble the déjà vu and déjà raconté situation in that the experience is felt with certainty to have actually occurred previously, although a degree of doubt about its having happened can consciously or unconsciously coincide. Factors contributing to the formation of screen constructions include regressive aspects of the analytic situation; superego elements and the experience of an injunction to remember; the wish to witness what took place in the past; direct or indirect suggestive influence by the analyst; a defensive identification with the analyst; and the analyst's theoretical orientation to reconstruction. Like a screen memory having some veridical content yet serving a masking function, a screen construction can have elements of truth. At the same time such constructions may function as a strong resistance or compromise against intense erotic, sadomasochistic, or narcissistic themes in the transference/counter-transference that were painful or conflictual in the past. If screen constructions are assumed to be historically real or valid, they may not be analyzed for their transferential screening role. A previously published case involving a presumably repressed memory of sexual molestation is considered from the perspective of the possible development of a screen reconstruction. Clinical and scientific aspects of seeking extra-analytic confirmation or falsification of reconstructions are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abraham, K. (1913). The ear and auditory passage as erotogenic zones. In Selected Papers of Karl Abraham. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1979, pp. 244–247.
2.
Anthony, E.J. (1961). A study of “screen sensations.”Psychoanalytic Study of the Child16:211–245.
3.
Arlow, J.A. (1959). The structure of the déjà vu experience. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association7:611–631.
4.
Arlow, J.A. (1981). Theories of pathogenesis. In Psychoanalysis: Clinical Theory and Practice. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 1991, pp. 327–346.
5.
Arlow, J.A. (1991a). Methodology and reconstruction. Psychoanalytic Quarterly60:539–563.
6.
Arlow, J.A. (1991b). The personal myth. In The Personal Myth in Psychoanalytic Theory, ed. P. Hartocollis & I. D. Graham. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, pp. 21–35.
7.
Beratis, S. (1988). The personal myth as a defence against internal primitive aggression. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis69:475–482.
8.
Bertin, C. (1982). Marie Bonaparte: A Life. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
9.
Bibring, E. (1954). Psychoanalysis and the dynamic psychotherapies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association2:745–770.
10.
Blum, H.P. (1960) The value of reconstruction in adult psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis61:39–52.
11.
Blum, H.P. (1994). Reconstruction in Psychoanalysis: Childhood Revisited and Recreated. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
12.
Boesky, D. (1969). The reversal of déjà racontè. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association17:1114–1141.
13.
Boesky, D. (1973). Déjà racontè as a screen defense. Psychoanalytic Quarterly42:491–524.
14.
Bonaparte, M. (1945). Notes on the analytic discovery of a primal scene. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child1:119–125.
15.
Brenneis, C.B. (1994a). Belief and suggestion in the recovery of memories of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:1027–1053.
16.
Brenneis, C.B. (1994b). Can early childhood trauma be reconstructed from dreams? On the relation of dreams to trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychology11:429–447.
17.
Bretherton, I. (1993). From dialogue to internal working models: The co-construction of self in relationships. In Memory and Affect in Development: The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology, volume 26, ed. C. A. Nelson. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 237–263.
18.
Caper, R. (1995). On the difficulty of making a mutative interpretation. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis76:91–101.
19.
De Mijolla, A. (1987). Unconscious identification fantasies and family prehistory. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis68:397–403.
20.
Deslaupoers, D., & Cordts, J. (1995). Dreams and current concerns: A narrative co-constitutive approach. Dreaming5:247–265.
21.
Dunn, J. (1995). Intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis: A critical review. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis76:723–738.
22.
Eagle, M.N. (1987). Psychoanalysis as therapy and theory: Veridicality and effectiveness. In Recent Developments in Psychoanalysis: A Critical Evaluation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 172–181.
23.
Edelson, M. (1983). Is testing psychoanalytic hypotheses in the psychoanalytic situation really impossible? Psychoanalytic Study of the Child38:61–109.
24.
Edelson, M. (1988). Psychoanalysis: A Theory in Crisis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
25.
Faimberg, H., & Corel, A. (1990). Repetition and surprise: A clinical approach to the necessity of construction and its validation. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis71:411–420.
26.
Fenichel, O. (1927). The economic function of screen memories. In The Collected Papers of Otto Fenichel. New York: Norton, 1953, pp. 113–116.
27.
Fine, B.D., Joseph, E.D., & Waldhorn, H.F., Eds. (1971). Recollection and Reconstruction in Psychoanalysis. New York: International Universities Press.
28.
Fliess, R. (1956). The déjà raconté: A transference-delusion concerning the castration complex. Psychoanalytic Quarterly25:215–227.
29.
Fourcher, L.A (1996). The authority of logic and the logic of authority: The import of the Grünbaum debate for psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Dialogues6:515–532.
30.
Frank, A. (1984). History and screen memories. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis65:85–88.
31.
Frank, A. (1991). Psychic change and the analyst as biographer: Transference and reconstruction. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis72:22–26.
32.
Freud, S. (1899). Screen memories. Standard Edition3:301–322.
33.
Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Standard Edition 4/5.
34.
Freud, S. (1901). The psychopathology of everyday life. Standard Edition6:1–279.
35.
Freud, S. (1908). Character and anal erotism. Standard Edition9:169–175.
36.
Freud, S. (1910). Leonardo da Vinci and a memory of his childhood. Standard Edition11:59–137.
37.
Freud, S. (1914). Fausse reconnaissance (déjà raconté) in psycho-analytic treatment. Standard Edition13:201–207.
38.
Freud, S. (1916-1917). Introductory lectures on psycho-analysis. Standard Edition 15/16.
39.
Freud, S. (1918). From the history of an infantile neurosis. Standard Edition17:1–122.
40.
Freud, S. (1937). Constructions in analysis. Standard Edition23:255–269.
41.
Gabbard, K., & Gabbard, G.O. (1987). Psychiatry and the Cinema. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
42.
Glover, E. (1929). The ‘screening’ function of traumatic memories. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis10:90–93.
43.
Good, M.I. (1994a). Differential constructions of trauma in cases of suspected child sexual molestation. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child49:434–464.
44.
Good, M.I. (1994b). The reconstruction of early childhood trauma: Fantasy, reality, and verification. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:79–101.
45.
Good, M.I. (1995). Karl Abraham, Sigmund Freud, and the fate of the seduction theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:1137–1167.
46.
Good, M.I. (1996). Suggestion and veridicality in the reconstruction of sexual trauma, or can a bait of suggestion catch a carp of falsehood? Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 44:1189–1224.
47.
Granott, N. (1993). Patterns of interaction in the co-construction of knowledge: Separate minds, joint effort, and weird creatures. In Development in Context: Acting and Thinking in Specific Environments, ed. R. H. Wozniak & K. W. Fischer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 183–207.
48.
Greenacre, P. (1949). A contribution to the study of screen memories. In Trauma, Growth and Personality. New York: International Universities Press, 1952, pp. 188–203.
49.
Greenacre, P. (1975). On reconstruction. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association23:693–712.
50.
Greenson, R.R. (1958). On screen defenses, screen hunger, and screen identity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association6:242–262.
51.
Greenson, R.R. (1970). The exceptional position of the dream in psychoanalytic practice. Psychoanalytic Quarterly39:519–549.
52.
Grünbaum, A. (1986). The Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique. Berkeley: University of California Press.
53.
Grünbaum, A. (1993). Validation in the Clinical Theory of Psychoanalysis: A Study in the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
54.
Hanly, C. (1990). The concept of truth in psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis71:375–383.
55.
Hanly, C. (1995). On facts and ideas in psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis76:901–908.
56.
Hanly, M.F. (1996). “Narrative” now and then: A critical realist approach. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis77:445–457.
57.
Hoffman, I.Z. (1992). Some practical implications of a social constructivist view of the psychoanalytic situation. Psychoanalytic Dialogues2:287–304.
58.
Hoffman, I.Z. (1994). Dialectical thinking and therapeutic action in the psychoanalytic process. Psychoanalytic Quarterly63:187–218.
59.
Hupfeld, H. (1931). As time goes by. Sheet Music Magazine1:16–19.
60.
Inderbitzin, L.B., & Levy, S.T. (1994). On grist for the mill: External reality as defense. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:763–788.
61.
Joseph, E. (1973). Sense of conviction, screen memories, and reconstruction: A clinical note. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic32:565–580.
62.
Kaplan, D.M. (1970). Comments on the screening function of a “technical affect, ” with reference to depression and jealousy. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis51:489–502.
63.
Kennedy, H.E. (1950). Cover memories in formation. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child5:275–284.
64.
Kerz-Rühling, I. (1996). The validation of psychoanalytical hypotheses in clinical practice. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis77:275–290.
65.
Klumpner, G.H., & Frank, A. (1991). On methods of reporting clinical material. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association39:537–551.
66.
Knapp, P.H. (1953). The ear, listening and hearing. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association1:672–689.
67.
Kris, E. (1947). The nature of psychoanalytic propositions and their validation. In Selected Papers of Ernst Kris. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975, pp. 3–23.
68.
Kris, E. (1956a). The personal myth: A problem in psychoanalytic technique. In Selected Papers of Ernst Kris. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975, pp. 272–300.
69.
Kris, E. (1956b). The recovery of childhood memories in psychoanalysis. In Selected Papers of Ernst Kris. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975, pp. 301–340.
70.
Lachmann, F.M., & Lichtenberg, J. (1992). Model scenes: Implications for psychoanalytic treatment. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association40:117–137.
71.
Laguardia, E. (1982). The return of childhood in autobiography: Freud's “Screen Memories.”Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought5:293–305.
72.
Laplanche, J., & Pontalis, J.-B. (1967). The Language of Psycho-Analysis, transl. D. Nicholson- Smith. New York: Norton, 1973.
73.
Levine, H.B. (1990). Adult Analysis and Childhood Sexual Abuse. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
74.
Levine, H.B. (1994). The analyst's participation in the analytic process. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis75:665–676.
75.
Levine, M.I. (1951). Pediatric observations on masturbation in children. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child6:117–124.
76.
Loewald, H.W. (1955). Hypnoid state, repression, abreaction, and recollection. In Papers on Psychoanalysis. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 33–42.
77.
Macalpine, I. (1950). The development of the transference. Psychoanalytic Quarterly19:501–539.
78.
Mahon, E., & Battin, D. (1981). Screen memories and termination. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association29:939–942.
79.
Mahon, E., & Battin, D. & Battin-Mahon, D. (1983). The fate of screen memories in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child38:459–479.
80.
Malin, A. (1982). Panel: Construction and reconstruction: Clinical aspects. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association30:213–233.
81.
Masson, J.M. (1984). The Assault on Truth. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
82.
McLaughlin, J.T. (1996). Power, authority, and influence in the analytic dyad. Psychoanalytic Quarterly65:201–235.
83.
Neu, J. (1973). Fantasy and memory: The aetiological role of thoughts according to Freud. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis54:383–398.
84.
Novey, S. (1964). The significance of the actual historical event in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. British Journal of Medical Psychology37:279–290.
85.
Novey, S. (1966). Why some patients conduct actual investigations of their biographies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association14:376–387.
86.
Oliner, M.M. (1996). External reality: The elusive dimension of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Quarterly65:267–300.
87.
O'Neil, J.A. (1993). Popper, Grünbaum, and induction. Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis1:105–130.
88.
Poland, W.S. (1986). The analyst's words. Psychoanalytic Quarterly55:244–272.
89.
Ray, R.B. (1985). A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
90.
Reed, G.S. (1995). Clinical truth and contemporary relativism: Meaning and narration in the psychoanalytic situation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:713–739.
91.
Reider, N. (1953). Reconstruction and screen function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association1:389–405.
92.
Reider, N. (1960). Percept as a screen: Economic and structural aspects. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association8:82–99.
93.
Renik, O. (1993). Analytic interaction: Conceptualizing technique in light of the analyst's irreducible subjectivity. Psychoanalytic Quarterly62:553–571.
94.
Rosen, V.H. (1955). The reconstruction of a traumatic childhood event in a case of derealization. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association3:211–221.
95.
Rubinstein, B.B. (1980). The problem of confirmation in clinical psychoanalysis. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association28:397–417.
96.
Rubovits-Seitz, P. (1992). Interpretive methodology: Some problems, limitations, and remedial strategies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association40:139–168.
97.
Sachs, O. (1967). Distinctions between fantasy and reality elements in memory and reconstruction. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis48:416–423.
98.
Sandler, J. (1967). Trauma, strain, and development. In Psychic Trauma, ed. S. S. Furst. New York: Basic Books, 1967, pp. 154–173.
99.
Schacter, D. (1986). Feeling-of-knowing ratings distinguish between genuine and simulated forgetting. Journal of Experimental Psychology12:30–41.
100.
Schafer, R. (1983). The Analytic Attitude. New York: Basic Books.
101.
Schwaber, E.A. (1986). Reconstruction and perceptual experience: Further thoughts on psychoanalytic listening. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association34:911–932.
102.
Shapiro, T. (1993). On reminiscences. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association41:395–421.
103.
Shapiro, T. (1995). The reality of trauma. Contemporary Psychoanalysis31:451–458.
104.
Share, L. (1994). If Someone Speaks, It Gets Lighter: Dreams and the Reconstruction of Infant Trauma. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
105.
Shevrjn, H. (1996). Is psychoanalysis one science, two sciences, or no science at all? A discourse among friendly antagonists. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:963–986.
106.
Siegman, A.J. (1956). The psychological economy of deja raconte. Psychoanalytic Quarterly25:83–86.
107.
Siegman, A.J. (1967). Denial and screening of object images. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association15:261–280.
108.
Silbermann, I. (1963). The jamais phenomenon with reference to fragmentation. Psychoanalytic Quarterly32:181–191.
109.
Simmel, E. (1925). A screen memory in statu nascendi. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis6:454–467.
110.
Simon, B. (1992). “Incest-see under oedipus complex”: The history of an error in psychoanalysis. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association40:955–988.
111.
Smith, H.F. (1992). Screen language and developmental metaphor. Annual of Psychoanalysis20:95–114.
112.
Spence, D.P. (1982). Narrative Truth and Historical Truth: Meaning and Interpretation in Psychoanalysis. New York: Norton.
113.
Spence, D.P. (1986). When interpretation masquerades as explanation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association34:3–22.
114.
Spero, M.H. (1990). Portal aspects of memory overlay in psychoanalysis: An object relations contribution to screen memory phenomena. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child45:79–103.
115.
Stein, H.H. (1993). A screen memory: My recollections and distortions of the 1950 film, Three Came Home. Psychoanalytic Quarterly62:109–113.
116.
Stern, D.B. (1985). Some controversies regarding constructivism and psychoanalysis. Contemporary Psychoanalysis21:201–208.
117.
Strenger, C. (1991). The function and validation of psychoanalytic reconstruction. In Between Hermeneutics and Science: An Essay on the Epistemology of Psychoanalysis. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, pp. 107–152.
118.
Thomä, H., & Cheshire, N. (1991). Freud's Nachträglichkeit and Strachey's “deferred action”: trauma, constructions and the direction of causality. International Review of Psycho-Analysis18:407–427.
119.
Viederman, M. (1976). The influence of the person of the analyst on structural change: A case report. Psychoanalytic Quarterly45:231–249.
120.
Viederman, M. (1991). The real person of the analyst and his role in the process of psychoanalytic cure. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association39:451–489.
121.
Viederman, M. (1994). The uses of the past and the actualization of a family romance. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:469–489.
122.
Viederman, M. (1995). The reconstruction of a repressed sexual molestation fifty years later. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43: 1169–1195
123.
Wetzler, S. (1985). The historical truth of psychoanalytic reconstructions. International Review of Psycho-Analysis12:187–197.
124.
Youniss, J., & Haynie, D.L. (1992). Friendship in adolescence. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics13:59–66.
