Vorstellung: representability issues

Abstract

The current psychoanalytic clinic requires that one takes into account the pathologies that show the prevalence of psychic contents, which do not belong to the representational universe of the subject. Through a theoretical reflection upon the Freudian Vorstellung concept and its implications on the psychoanalytic technique, this article aims to approach the theme of the representability and the unrepresentability of psychic contents. Thus, it is necessary for the analyst to go beyond his interpretation resources, rethinking and broadening the technical resources. The Vorstellung theme is approached in relation to the treatment of patients who suffer from the lack of skills to attribute meaning to what hurts them emotionally.

Psychoanalytic technique; Representability; Unrepresentability