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Psychosis occupies a complex and paradoxical place in the Freudian corpus. While Freud explicitly acknowledges that the psychoanalytic technique he develops is not an effective tool in the area of psychosis, he also refers to psychosis in key places in his metapsychology. This presentation offers to explore the pivotal relevance of psychosis in Freudian metapsychology, while accounting for its irrelevance in terms of Freudian technique. More specifically and in the light of concrete clinical illustrations, this discussion will strive to elucidate the place of psychosis within Freud’s first and second topography, as well as its relation to trauma and the somatic sphere.
Dorothée Bonnigal-Katz is a psychoanalyst working in private practice in London and Leamington Spa and a member of the Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Since January 2013, she has been leading a project at Islington Mind, with a view to develop access to long-term talk therapy for individuals suffering from psychosis. She is also a translator specialised in psychoanalytic theory and continental philosophy.