Table Of ContentMELTZER IN VENICE
Working with Meltzer Series
Forthcoming:
Meltzer in São Paulo
edited by Marisa Melega
Meltzer in Paris
edited by Didier Houzel and Bianca Lechevalier
Already published by Karnac:
Psychoanalytic Work with Children and
Adults: Meltzer in Barcelona
edited by Donald Meltzer
The Simsbury Seminars
edited by Rosa Castella, Lluis Farré, and
Carlos Tabbia
MELTZER IN VENICE
SEMINARS WITH
THE RACKER GROUP OF VENICE
Edited by
Maria Elena Petrilli, Hugo Màrquez,
and Mauro Rossetti
published for
The Harris Meltzer Trust
by
KARNAC
Published for The Harris Meltzer Trust by
Karnac Books Ltd, 118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Series editor Meg Harris Williams
Case histories published in Italian in Lavorando con Meltzer
by Armando, Rome, 1998
Copyright © 2017 The Harris Meltzer Trust
Translation by Sema Postacioglu
English editing by Meg Harris Williams
The rights of the contributors to be identified as the authors of this work have been
asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patent Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78220 4664
Edited, designed and produced by The Bourne Studios
www.bournestudios.co.uk
Printed in Great Britain
www.harris-meltzer-trust.org.uk
www.karnacbooks.com
CONTENTS
About the authors vii
Foreword: the Racker Group of Venice
Hugo Màrquez and Maria Elena Petrilli xi
Introduction: working with adolescents
Maria Elena Petrilli xv
1 ‘Tender your dreams in a tent’: a workshop
for 11–14 year olds
Monique Pistolato 1
2 Not only homework: street educators
of Venice
Margherita Furlanetto and Monica
Longhi, in collaboration with
Maria Elena Petrilli 23
3 Avoiding the Oedipus complex
Giuseppina Pavan 51
v
vi CONTENTS
4 A potential terrorist: the conflict with
anti-life forces
Elena Pianezzola 65
5 Between aridity and hope
Annamaria Mariuccia 83
6 Hysteria today
Hugo Màrquez 101
7 An egocentric adolescent
Mauro Rossetti 121
8 Sleeping at his mother’s breast: in the
style of Oblomov
Hugo Màrquez 149
9 A case of transvestism
Valeria Mozzon 181
10 A boy with a gentle heart: inside and
outside the father’s head
Rudolfo Picciulin 209
11 On negative transference
Donald Meltzer 233
12 Current considerations on autism
Donald Meltzer 241
Index 249
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Margherita Furlanetto is a professional educator; from 1990 she
has been in charge of school projects for Venice Town Council
which help adolescents and their families in difficulty, and from
1994 she has directed relational and school support groups for
adolescents. She also plans, organises, and carries out prevention
projects for schools.
Monica Longhi is a professional educator; from 1990 she has
been in charge of school projects for Venice Town Council which
help adolescents and their families in difficulty. Since 1990 she
has also organised and conducted educational and relational
groups for parents, provided consultation for individuals and
couples, and participated in the implementation of local preven-
tion projects.
Annamaria Mariuccia is a psychologist (BSc Padua) and psycho-
therapist, training at the International Institute for Analytical
Social Psychology, Venice. She has had supervision from Donald
Meltzer and Antonino Ferro. She lives and works at Bassano di
Grappa as an independent psychologist, and as consultant and
supervisor for various schools and community centres.
vii
viii ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Hugo Màrquez is a psychologist and psychoanalytic psycho-
therapist. He started his career in Rosario, Argentina, and after
moving to Italy completed his psychotherapy training in Padua.
In 1986, together with Mauro Rossetti and Maria Elena Petrilli,
founded the Racker Study Group which organises seminars
and training courses for psychologists and therapists working
in social-psychological institutions in the Veneto region. He
has worked with Meltzer since 1988 and together with Mauro
Rossetti edited Lavorando con Meltzer – Clinca del Claustrum
(1998). He lives and works in Venice as a psychotherapist and
trains younger therapists.
Donald Meltzer (d. 2004) was a British psychoanalyst, origi-
nally from New York, who taught widely in many countries in
both Europe and America. He is the author of many influen-
tial books, including The Psychoanalytical Process (1967), Sexual
States of Mind (1973), Explorations in Autism (1975), Dream
Life (1983), The Apprehension of Beauty (1988; with Meg Harris
Williams), and The Claustrum (1992).
Giuliana Mozzon is a psychologist, psychotherapist of psycho-
analytical training. She lives and works in Udine doing her main
research with a clinical emphasis on child adoption. She trains
individual therapists and supervises institutional services. She
attended the activities of the Racker Group and Dr Meltzer’s
supervisions there for fifteen years.
Giuseppina Pavan is a psychologist and psychodynamic psycho-
therapist. She lives in Pordenone and works there both privately
and for public health institutions such as Family Consultation
and Old People’s Homes. She is a regular member of the training
seminars of the Racker Group.
Maria Elena Petrilli is a clinical psychologist who graduated
in psychology at Rosario, Argentina. She lives and works in
Venice as a psychotherapist and consultant for Public Health
Services. In 1986, together with Hugo Màrquez and Mauro
ABOUT THE AUTHORS ix
Rossetti, she founded the Racker Study Group, an association
of psychotherapists from various fields of specialisation, in order
to explore object relations theory in depth in the transference-
countertransference. She has chaired numerous seminars with
different authors, among which Dr Meltzer was a regular invited
speaker for more than fifteen years.
Elena Pianezzola is a psychotherapist (BSc Padua), training
at the International Institute for Analytical Social Psychology,
Venice. She is a founding member of the Bassano Association
of Psychologists which promotes various training approaches
and applications. She lives and works at Bassano del Grappa
in individual psychotherapy and couple relationships as well as
adolescent and child therapy.
Rodolfo Picciulin is a psychologist and psychoanalytic psycho-
therapist. He lives and works in Gorizia as a clinical therapist
and trainer for health and social services. He is a former lecturer
at the Institute of Social Analytical Psychology in Venice and
a lecturer on the ‘Psychology of the Life-cycle’ at the training
school in Trieste. From 1986 to 2002, as a member of the Racker
Group, he attended the seminars and supervisions held by Dr
Meltzer in Venice with particular emphasis on the clinical appli-
cations of object relations.
Monique Pistolato is an author, and an educator-animator, with
training in the social psychology of groups. She has received vari-
ous national and international awards for her short stories and
many of her works have been adapted for the stage. Among her
recent works are: Un’altra stanza in laguna (Another Room in
the Lagoon) (Ibis, 2005); Un tempo necessario (Necessary Time),
(La Meridiana, 2007); Venezia: Guida alla città invisibile. Dieci
itinerary insoliti e curiosi per calli e canali (Venice: A Guide to the
Invisible City. Ten Unusual and Wonderful Itineraries through
Calli and Canals) (Ibis, 2012); Cari libri. La lettura condivisa
come laboratorio di umanità (Cherished Books: Reading Shared
as a Workshop of Humanity) (Paoline, 2014).
