Table Of ContentLost To Desire
This book covers the work of psychoanalysts in post WWII France
with patients beset by somatic problems with little manifest fan-
tasy life, and how their concept of opératoire continues to inform the
theory and practice of working with patients in crisis.
The author explores what the new concept has elicited in a com-
munity of practitioners – close to the École Psychosomatique de Paris –
over a period of some sixty years. As a ‘skin for thought’ it facilitated
change while preserving coherence, gradually beginning to attract
further considerations. Important themes have included: the early
groundwork necessary for the configuration of fantasy, the import-
ance of a shared imaginary, the role of denial and obliterated mem-
ories as a bond between people, emergency measures of a Me cut off
from revitalisation, the effects of the rhythms and atmosphere at the
workplace on family life, and the consequences of a crisis suppressed
for lack of a holding frame. As psychoanalytic discourse adapted to
the challenges, the original perspective changed aspect, moving from
a systematic evaluation of what the patients did not produce to what
the analyst had to fill in to make sense of the situation. Clashing
with the terrain, French psychoanalysts raised important problems
about psychic anaemia that are stimulating and deserve cross- cultural
discussion.
This book will appeal to psychoanalysts in practice and training
who wish to learn more about this ground- breaking work on memory
and trauma, and how to apply it to their own practice.
Wolfgang Lassmann is a psychoanalyst in private practice, Vienna,
and a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association.
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Lost To Desire
The École Psychosomatique de Paris
and its Encounter with Patients
Who Do Not Thrive
Wolfgang Lassmann
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Wolfgang Lassmann
The right of Wolfgang Lassmann to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Lassmann, Wolfgang (Psychologist) author.
Title: Lost to desire : the École Psychosomatique de Paris and its encounter
with patients who do not thrive / Wolfgang Lassmann.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: New library of psychoanalysis |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021026092 (print) | LCCN 2021026093 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032132617 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032132600 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003228363 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis–France–History–20th century. |
Memory, | Psychic trauma.
Classification: LCC BF175 .L357 2022 (print) |
LCC BF175 (ebook) | DDC 616.89/17094409045–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026092
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026093
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 13261- 7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 13260- 0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 22836- 3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003228363
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
To the memory of Jean- François Bion (born Dijon,
24th June 1668)
absconded from his job
betrayed his king
gained a world
and to the memory of Joseph Priestley (1733– 1804)
native son of Yorkshire
student of French, German and Aramaic
caused a riot
was persuaded to turn migrant
Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 Fragments of a debate 14
2 Background 28
3 Foundations 1: Pierre Marty 42
4 Foundations 2: Michel Fain with Denise Braunschweig 68
5 Basic mechanisms 1: Nicos Nicolaïdis 94
6 Basic mechanisms 2: Gérard Szwec 111
7 Configurations 1: Anna Potamianou 132
8 Configurations 2: Jean Benjamin Stora 153
9 Inquiries: The work of César and Sára Botella 166
10 Second thoughts: Claude Smadja 191
11 Entanglements: The forgotten pre- history of the opératoire 216
ix
