Giuseppe Civitarese

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Giuseppe Civitarese is an Italian psychoanalyst, a training and supervising analyst of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI) and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). He is known for his contributions to contemporary psychoanalytic theory, particularly in the areas of intersubjectivity, field theory, and the clinical application of these concepts. His work emphasizes the co-created nature of the analytic experience and the importance of the analyst's subjectivity in the therapeutic process.[1]

Biography

Giuseppe Civitarese has established himself as a prominent figure in the international psychoanalytic community through his extensive writing, teaching, and clinical practice. His work bridges classical psychoanalytic concepts with contemporary relational and intersubjective perspectives, offering a nuanced understanding of the analytic process.

Education and Early Career

Civitarese received his medical degree and specialized in psychiatry before training as a psychoanalyst. His early intellectual formation was influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, and Wilfred Bion, providing a foundation for his later explorations of intersubjectivity and field theory. He underwent psychoanalytic training with the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI), becoming a training and supervising analyst.[2]

Institutional Affiliations

Civitarese is a member of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI) and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). He has held various positions within these organizations, contributing to the training and supervision of psychoanalysts. He is also actively involved in international psychoanalytic conferences and workshops, presenting his work to a global audience. His institutional involvement reflects his commitment to the development and transmission of psychoanalytic knowledge.

Engagement with Psychoanalysis

Civitarese's engagement with psychoanalysis is characterized by a deep commitment to both theoretical rigor and clinical relevance. He seeks to integrate diverse psychoanalytic perspectives, including Kleinian, Bionian, and intersubjective approaches, into a coherent framework for understanding the analytic process.

Intersubjectivity and Field Theory

Civitarese's work is deeply rooted in intersubjective psychoanalysis and field theory. He emphasizes that the analytic process is not simply a matter of the analyst interpreting the patient's unconscious but rather a co-created experience shaped by the interaction between the analyst's and the patient's subjectivities. The analytic field, in this view, is a dynamic and evolving space in which both participants are mutually influenced.[3]

Relation to Freud and Lacan

While Civitarese's work is primarily situated within the Kleinian and post-Kleinian traditions, he also engages with the ideas of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. He reinterprets Freudian concepts such as transference and countertransference through the lens of intersubjectivity, emphasizing the relational dimensions of these phenomena. While not explicitly a Lacanian, his work shares with Lacanian psychoanalysis an emphasis on the role of language and the symbolic in shaping psychic experience.

Theoretical Contributions

Civitarese has made several significant contributions to contemporary psychoanalytic theory, particularly in the areas of intersubjectivity, field theory, and the clinical application of these concepts.

Analytic Field

Civitarese's work emphasizes the concept of the analytic field as a dynamic and co-created space in which both the analyst and the patient are mutually influenced. He draws on the work of Madeleine and Willy Baranger to elaborate on the idea of the analytic field as a shared psychic space.[4]

Dream-like Reverie

Civitarese has developed the concept of the "dream-like reverie" to describe the analyst's capacity to enter into a state of receptive openness to the patient's unconscious communications. This state allows the analyst to access implicit relational knowing and to respond to the patient in a way that is both attuned and transformative. The dream-like reverie is not simply a passive receptivity but an active engagement with the patient's psychic reality.[5]

Emotional Grid

Civitarese introduces the concept of the "emotional grid" to describe the complex interplay of emotions, fantasies, and relational patterns that characterize the analytic field. The emotional grid is not a fixed structure but a dynamic and evolving matrix that shapes the interaction between the analyst and the patient. Understanding the emotional grid allows the analyst to better attune to the patient's subjective experience and to facilitate psychic change.

Thirdness

Civitarese explores the concept of "thirdness" in the analytic field, drawing on the work of Ogden and others. Thirdness refers to the emergence of a new psychic space that is neither the analyst's nor the patient's but rather a co-created reality that transcends the individual subjectivities of the participants. This third space allows for new possibilities of meaning-making and psychic transformation.[6]

Clinical and Institutional Work

Civitarese is a practicing psychoanalyst and a training and supervising analyst of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI) and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). He has trained numerous psychoanalysts and has contributed to the development of psychoanalytic education in Italy and internationally. His clinical work informs his theoretical contributions, and his theoretical insights are grounded in his extensive clinical experience.

Influence and Legacy

Civitarese's work has influenced contemporary psychoanalytic clinicians and theorists interested in intersubjectivity and field theory. His emphasis on the co-created nature of the analytic experience and the importance of the analyst's subjectivity has resonated with many practitioners who seek to move beyond traditional models of psychoanalysis. His writings have been translated into multiple languages, making his work accessible to a global audience. He is considered a leading figure in the development of contemporary psychoanalytic thought.

Key Works

  • The Violence of Emotions: Bion and Post-Kleinian Developments (2015): Explores the role of emotions in psychoanalytic theory and practice, with a focus on the work of Bion and post-Kleinian developments.
  • Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience: Controversies, Clinical Implications, and the Possibility of Integration (2016): Examines the relationship between psychoanalysis and neuroscience, addressing controversies and exploring the potential for integration.
  • Sublime Subjects: Aesthetic Experience and Intersubjectivity in Psychoanalysis (2021): Explores the role of aesthetic experience in psychoanalysis, with a focus on intersubjectivity and the co-creation of meaning.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Civitarese, G. (2015). The Violence of Emotions: Bion and Post-Kleinian Developments. Routledge.
  2. ↑ Civitarese, G. (2016). Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience: Controversies, Clinical Implications, and the Possibility of Integration. Routledge.
  3. ↑ Civitarese, G. (2021). Sublime Subjects: Aesthetic Experience and Intersubjectivity in Psychoanalysis. Routledge.
  4. ↑ Baranger, M., & Baranger, W. (2008). The Analytic Situation as a Dynamic Field. Karnac Books.
  5. ↑ Civitarese, G. (2015). The Violence of Emotions: Bion and Post-Kleinian Developments. Routledge.
  6. ↑ Ogden, T. H. (1994). Subjects of Analysis. Karnac Books.
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