Correspondence: Oliver Decker, Ph.D., Universität Leipzig, Selbst. Abt. f. Medizinische Psychologie, und Medizinische Soziologie, Philipp-Rosenthal-Str. 55, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. e-mail: Oliver.decker@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

¹Ph.D., psychologist (diploma). Is a consultant in living organ donation and member of the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical College of Leipzig, Germany; trainee psychoanalytist; editor of "Psychoanalyse—Texte zur Sozialforschung."

²certified psychologist, is participant of the graduate school for gender studies "gender in motion" in Bale, Switzerland. She is psychological consultant in evaluation for living organ donation in Leipzig, Germany.

³psychologist (diploma), is a consultant in psycho-oncology and member of the Department of Social Medicine, University Medical College of Leipzig, Germany. Psychoanalytist, Saxonia Institute of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.

⁴MD, is Professor of Visceral Surgery and former Vice Chairman of the Surgical Department of the University Hospital of Leipzig, Germany. Currently, Dr. J. Fangmann is Director of the Surgical Department of Karl-Olga-Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany. Dr. J. Fangmann is Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS).

⁵MD, Professor of Psychosomatic Medicine at the Justus-Liebig-University of Gieen, Psychoanalyst (DPV), Training Analyst and Chair of the Institut for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapie, Gieen. He specialises in psychoanalytical aspects of Lifestyle-Medicine.

Abstract

In this paper the results from a research project on self-perception and psychological processing following transplantation of solid organs are presented. A diary at the individual case level was introduced to generate a longitudinal analysis. In the following paper we describe an evaluation of the entries of a single patient following a living donor kidney transplant. Conflicts in the relationship between the transplant recipient and the donor, who is also his wife, are clearly evident, and these are interpreted as incorporation conflicts in light of current psychoanalytic theory.