The study of superego and ideology within the context of bodily ego and skin as a psychic wrapping is vital to understanding the intersubjective aspects of those individuals who are living in a mal-attuned or extreme situation. This paper investigates superego’s will to dominate over the skin-ego to satisfy the id by itself and takes an intermediate position between id and external reality. The authors further attempt is to conceptualize superego formation in a skin model of ego development in a synthetic way and redefine ideology within the context of this conceptualization. The term Encapsulated Skin-Ego may explain how when the skin-ego is dysfunctional, a certain part of superego comes into being a psychic wrapping instead of the skin-ego and has left its developmental position. Consequently, the skin-ego takes refuge in the encapsulated skin-ego to be secure. In addition, ideology has a hegemonic character and wishes to control social symbols to continue its domination over people’s minds and bodies. Ideology tries to encapsulate the skin-ego and deprive it of natural sensations to lead it to an isolated corner ultimately to suppress the thinking ego. Two-case studies present the psychoanalytic application of the authors’ ideas.

On a certain reading, the respective theories of Freud and Nietzsche might be described as exploring the suffered relational histories of the subject, who is driven by need; these histories might also be understood as histories of language. This suggests a view of language as a complicated mode of identifying-with, which obliges linguistic subjects to identify the non-identical, but also enables them to simultaneously identify with each other in the psychoanalytic sense. This ambivalent space of psychoanalytic identification would be conditioned by relational histories. On one hand, this might lead to conformity within a system of language as a shared, obligatory compromise formation that would defend against the non-identical; magical language, typified in Freud’s critique of animism and in Nietzsche’s critique of “free will” guided by absolute normative signifiers (“Good” and “Evil”), would be symptomatic of this sort of defense. On the other hand, given other relational histories, it may produce the possibility for more transitional modes of identification, and thereby modes of language that can bear its suffered histories, and lead to proliferation of singular compromise formations. It is suggested that while the former is historically dominant, Nietzsche and various psychoanalytic thinkers contribute to conceiving of the possibility of working ourselves towards the latter.

Language and Psychoanalysis is a fully peer reviewed open access journal that publishes twice a year. It is the only interdisciplinary journal with a strong focus on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of language and psychoanalysis.

Our study examined in-session affect regulation as a self-regulatory process as well as a process of interpersonal regulation during the psychoanalytical therapeutic session. We used a novel approach for studying affective involvement by analyzing narrative perspective (NP) taken by client and analyst. In a longitudinal study of 18 months we observed the interaction of one client—therapist dyad during the psychoanalytic session in the early and working phases of psychotherapy. Transcribed sessions were segmented into intonation units, and participants’ use of NP was then coded for each intonation unit line based on six linguistic variables shown to signal affective involvement in earlier studies: verb tense, subject number and person, diegesis, focalization, and discourse level. We found that affective involvement on the part of both speakers was higher at the working phase. The client’s involvement was higher than the therapist’s. We describe an affect-regulation cycle characteristic of the interaction. Our approach proves to be useful in analyzing regulation of affective involvement and its long term change. Differences were detectable in the self and interactive regulatory strategies of affective involvement.

There is the common believe that data and theory are two distinct poles on the same scientific continuum. This notion is enriched with ideas from the fields of psychoanalysis, sociology and conversation analysis. The description of conversational reality in accordance with the knowledge of psychotherapeutic theory is exemplified through the analysis of a therapy transcript. A special spotlight is shed on the dyads’ use of the recipient signal “mhmh” and its various functions within the talk. Most prominently, the therapist uses this token to reinforce the patient as long as she follows his idea of how she might get better. This small insertion therefore functions as a conversational marker of handling a therapeutic theory. Conversation analysts think of talk as a subject not pre-determined by theoretical believes of the participants. This changes in the analysis of therapeutic talk, which is pre-structured, at least by the professional theories of the therapist. For a proper analysis of the conversation two systems should be taken into account. On the one hand Harvey Sacks’ idea of ‘Order at all points’ and on the other hand the methodological idea of ‘Theory at all points’. This combination leads to a description of conversational reality while taking theories into account.

The relationship of “psychoanalysis and language” was in the center of many theoretical and clinical discussions ever since Freud (1916/17) had declared: Nothing takes place in a psycho-analytic treatment but an interchange of words between the patient and the analyst. The patient talks, tells of his past experiences and presents impressions, complains, confesses his wishes and his emotional impulses. The doctor listens, tries to direct the patient’s processes of thought, exhorts, forces his attention in certain directions, gives him explanations and observes the reaction of understanding or rejection which he in this way provokes in him (p. 17).

Our study examined in-session affect regulation as a self-regulatory process as well as a process of interpersonal regulation during the psychoanalytical therapeutic session. We used a novel approach for studying affective involvement by analyzing narrative perspective (NP) taken by client and analyst. In a longitudinal study of 18 months we observed the interaction of one client—therapist dyad during the psychoanalytic session in the early and working phases of psychotherapy. Transcribed sessions were segmented into intonation units, and participants’ use of NP was then coded for each intonation unit line based on six linguistic variables shown to signal affective involvement in earlier studies: verb tense, subject number and person, diegesis, focalization, and discourse level. We found that affective involvement on the part of both speakers was higher at the working phase. The client’s involvement was higher than the therapist’s. We describe an affect-regulation cycle characteristic of the interaction. Our approach proves to be useful in analyzing regulation of affective involvement and its long term change. Differences were detectable in the self and interactive regulatory strategies of affective involvement.

Language impairment is potentially a life-long disability that is related to increased risk for significant academic, social, emotional and behavioural problems. Its manifestation in children and adolescents as language-learning disability is considered to be a lifespan issue. “Language Disorders in Children and Adolescents” sheds light on this complex issue by concisely presenting evidence-based practice and a brief introduction to advances in psychotherapy. The conciseness accentuates the user-friendliness of the content along with easy to follow guidance relating to most common language disorders. Despite the centrality of analytical theory-based discussion, practical treatments and clinical practices draw on a “theory to practice” approach to language disorders. In fact, language disorders and language impairments appear mostly in childhood, and the comprehensive description of the symptoms and their treatments, which are presented in this book, can clarify this issue significantly.