Intrapsychic outcome in projective identification

Four possible outcomes of projective identification (Klein, 1946) are identified. First is a parallel sending, receiving, and giving back between both parties. Second, there is an inability to access the receiver, leading to annihilation anxieties. Third is an experience of the receiver not being able to process the message, leading to the sender's fantasy of hurting or destroying the object. Finally, there is the experience of the object becoming outraged at being asked to receive a message and subsequently attacking the sender. These are all fantasy states that come about in the context of the most basic of human communications, the process of projective identification. Projective identification is a fantasy-dominated experience and a dialectical process within both interpersonal and intrapsychic forums. These four potential states are separated for theoretical purposes but are always cross-influencing and creating each other in the unconscious. The situations described between mother and infant are paralleled in the analytic situation, the difference being the chronological and developmental passage of time and the evolution of the original fantasy material.     

Distribution patterns of chalcogens (S, Se, Te, and 210Po) in various tissues of a squid, Todarodes pacificus

In order to elucidate the relationship between the chemically similar chalcogen elements S, Se, Te, and 210Po in marine invertebrates, we conducted a comparative study of the distribution patterns of these elements in a squid, Todarodes pacificus. Elemental concentrations of the four chalcogens were determined in (mantle) muscle, gill, stomach, and hepatopancreas tissues. No relationship between chalcogen concentrations and morphological parameters (mantle length, body weight, and sex) was evident. Gills showed slightly elevated levels of Se and 210Po, which may indicate absorption and uptake of these elements over the gill surface. All four chalcogens have their highest concentrations in the hepatopancreas and the lowest concentrations in the muscle tissue. However, concentration differences between tissues, revealed by (1) bioaccumulation values based on reference seawater values and (2) internal relative enrichment factors (IREF) based on enrichment of hepatopancreas compared to muscle tissue, were least pronounced for S, most distinct for 210Po, and moderate for Se and Te. Furthermore, no significant correlation for Se, Te, and 210Po with S within tissue concentrations, and only a slightly negative correlation between S and 210Po in the squid muscle and hepatopancreas tissues were found, which indicates either an antagonistic effect between, or a disconnection of the two elements through metabolic processing. Overall, the distribution patterns of Se and Te resemble those of essential trace elements, such as Zn and Cu, whereas 210Po is partitioned in a manner similar to toxic heavy metals, such as Cd and Ag.     

Review of A disturbance in the field: Essays in transference-countertransference engagement.

Reviews the book, A disturbance in the field: Essays in transference-countertransference engagement by Steven Cooper (see record 2010-09125-000). At the beginning of this book, Cooper states that he is interested in finding the common ground, clinically, between the relational approach and other schools such as the Kleinian, Freudian, Kohutian, and others. In the introduction, Cooper states he will be examining the moments of transition, change, and newness that occur in psychoanalytic treatment. He alerts us that although he is very interested in countertransference as a clinical tool and the analyst’s imagination as helpful in the therapeutic work, he warns us to not see these elements in any heroic or idealistic manner. Cooper promises to explore the areas of unconscious conflict, fantasy, and the interpersonal process and believes both patient and analyst try to hold these dimensions in mind and communicate with each other throughout the clinical process. Overall, the reviewer enjoyed reading the book but was disappointed in that Cooper’s outline of what the reader can expect does not unfold. What is offered in this book is interesting, and at times illuminating, but overall runs somewhat flat. There were numerous places where Cooper could have taken his discussion points and tried to build a new fusion of relational, Freudian, Kleinian, and Kohutian approaches but he did not. The reviewer found it interesting that his case material seems to be a standard yet very skilled and natural combination of such views, but he does not elaborate on any theoretical matters or examine his case material as being predominantly a combination of such views. Therefore, the reviewer thinks there are many helpful and insightful points made in this book, but he was never really moved in any particular manner by the text. When reading his case material closely, the reviewer was struck by it being solid analytic work that seemed mostly of a Freudian and object relational mode, but again not anything unique or anything showing a new method of consolidating different theoretical approaches, which is what we were promised early on. The reviewer's overall reaction to this new book is that he is very appreciative of many individual chapters, and many sections of certain chapters, but they never all came together as a whole or jelled as a unifying theme that felt new and transformative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)