Field Note
Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society (2006) 11, 217–223. doi:10.1057/palgrave.pcs.2100085
Embodiments and Disembodiments: The Relation of Body Modifications to Two Psychoanalytic Treatments
Sheila Namir1
1Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Correspondence: Sheila Namir, 303 Potrero St, Suite 57, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA. E-mail: snamir@sbcglobal.net
Abstract
The materiality of the body in a culture of mind (clinical psychoanalysis) offers perspectives on inside/outside and body/mind continuums. Presenting two examples, one from the perspective of an analyst and the other from the perspective of an analysand, I explore the effects of body modifications (self-cutting, tattooing and cosmetic surgery) on the relational matrix when the focus on the surface of the body immobilizes the fluidity of these continua. Presenting clinical issues of embodiment/disembodiment, I offer a relational psychoanalytic view of the bodymind in treatment.
Keywords:
transference, countertransference (bodily), body modifications, relational psychoanalysis, self-cutting, cosmetic surgery, tattooing
