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Chapter Four – The diachronic analysis – who, what and when? – Page 122
issues in relation these people is something that I have reached counter-transferentially,
in other words in response to what is evoked in me by them.
The list is as follows:
Struggling with authority, and unresolved Œdipal 3 difficulties, particularly in
relation to the tutors.
Difficulty (with hindsight) in some of the later sessions, including reservations
about the idea of psychotherapy.
Seemed well able to settle towards the end. I’m aware of my own lingering
irritation in reaction to the use of phrases which seem to contain infantile
longing.
Is exciting, and managed not to be there through a very difficult phase. Is very
present when actually attending, but perhaps in a way that’s intimidating to
others, in particular to the less confident.
Very serious and committed, inclined I think to project a very harsh super-ego.
Struggling very much in this semester, although probably developing some
admirable capability to not know.
Experiencing painful and difficult dynamics in the workplace, and I wonder if
the body could not cope with these. Ended up in a strange place in this group,
torn between looking after others and being looked after by them.
Always there somehow, I notice in the analysis, engaged, but seeming to be
experiencing fairly constant anxiety.
Struggling with the task. Not really able to do much other than hold on tight,
and possibly getting missed as a result, but getting something from being
there.
Seeming to be cautious and defensive, but from a position of apparent
superiority. Leaves me with a feeling of being somehow thwarted.
So what do they leave me with as a group?
3 The Oedipus complex: Freud (1905b/1960) saw the patterns of dynamics that reflected those
represented in the myth of Oedipus (Graves, 1984), (particularly the range of erotic and aggressive
impulses in young children in relation to their parents and to the relationship between them) as a
cornerstone of individual development. It is used in this sense to refer to dynamics which seem to arise
from the challenge of resolution of this stage of development and which can persist into, and recur, in
adulthood.