Specificities of Psychoanalytic Treatment: Birth of a Method

A stimulating account of some of the key challenges found in psychoanalysis through a discussion of the Specificity initiative, a research method that examines how analysts work, associate, and reflect together in a group. It offers both a study of the work and an inquiry into the realities of psychoanalytic collaboration.

This book contains contributions from Leopoldo Bleger, Catherine Desvignes, Marie-France Dispaux-Ducloux, Yvette Dorey, Cláudio Laks Eizirik, Fabienne Fillion, Serge Frisch, Lila Hoïjman, Erika Kittler, Diana Messina Pizzuti, Luc Michel, Martine Sandor-Buthaud, Andrea Scardovi, Évelyne Sechaud, and Ronnie Shaw.

Inter-analytic exchange involves associatively voicing thoughts in response to the clinical material of a patient, thus shedding light on some of the intrapsychic activity of psychoanalysts at work. Various transferential movements which may emerge must be contained and processed within this framework. For a day and a half, a group of analysts freely associates on three sessions of clinical material presented by a colleague (who remains silent during the discussion) in the presence of two moderators and a silent observer-rapporteur. This forms the core dispositif of the Specificity method.

The general framework of the method is upheld by a European research group that meets biannually. Members establish annual clinical working parties during the European Psychoanalytic Federation (EPF) Congress, where they review observer reports and work through them using, again, free association. A summary of each session is transcribed and a subgroup is dedicated to the systematic reading of the reports to produce further study. While the dispositif does not offer an absolute guarantee, over fifteen years of experience and exploration have proved its worth. It is now a recognised model within the EPF and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA).

This collection documents the history of the origins of the method and the discoveries made, the results of the research, and also the ongoing questioning within the EPF. It is neither exhaustive nor didactic, but instead invites you, the reader, to integrate your experiences with the ones presented herein. This is a must-read for all psychoanalysts and clinicians.