Symbol Formation in Psychoanalysis

Marisa Pelella Mélega draws on a broad spectrum of clinical and observational work, gathered over many years as a practising and teaching psychoanalyst based in São Paulo, Brazil.

The role of symbol formation as a goal in psychoanalysis, and an indicator of developmental progress, has always been recognised. The post-Kleinian understanding of its operation has advanced since Bion’s theory of thinking and Meltzer’s elucidation of the role of ‘dream life’, which view the desire for knowledge as the resolution of emotional conflict, with symbol formation being the primary mental mechanism.

Mélega discusses illustrative examples from newborn infants, children of different ages, adolescents and adults, to illustrate her longstanding fascination with the process of symbol formation and its vicissitudes, including those transference moments at which symbols are forged during the analytic session.