The lifting of repression and of infantile amnesia was an original aim and goal of clinical psychoanalysis. Memory may be more or less reliable and authentic. However, it tends to be subjective, self-serving, and selective, and there are different memory modalities and systems. The recovery of repressed childhood memory has been largely subsumed under the analysis of unconscious conflict and fantasy. “Hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences,” and these reminiscences interweave with and contribute to reconstruction, which is intrinsic to psycho-analysis. Memory and reconstruction are subject to the influence of special interests, transference, and countertransference. Since open questions remain concerning preoedipal, and particularly preverbal, reconstruction, external confirmation may further both the analytic process and analytic research. The process of reconstruction integrates and transcends memory, facilitating personality reorganization.
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