Dimensões da recusa: crença, trauma e clínica

Abstract

This work explores the concept of Disavowal (Verleugnung) as a defense mechanism, considering its origins in the work of Sigmund Freud, but articulating them with the theoretical and clinical contributions that other psychoanalysts have developed. Initially, the term refers to a childish reaction to the traumatic discovery of the absence of penis in women, which creates two simultaneous psychic streams: one that deduces that the woman has been castrated and another that does not admit it. The maintenance of such a double attitude in adult life leads to a splitting of the Ego, resulting from disavowal of reality. Considering fetishism as disavowal’s prototypical psychic functioning, we outline its defensive effects, but also how it compromises the proper functioning of the psychic apparatus, paralyzing psychic processes. From the dimension of beliefs and the traumatic field, this research explores intersubjective and intrapsychic aspects of disavowal, allowing a deepening on its effects and clinical expressions. We conclude that disavowal is a defense mechanism that is active since the beginning of psychic life and that persists in adult life in all subjectivities, and may develop into psychic illness. Outlining the specificity of this defense mechanism, in contrast to repression, and directly dialoguing with the challenges found in these treatments, we propose a reflection on the need for technical changes that could make clinical interventions more effective to reduce suffering and promote transformations on the patient’s psychic dynamics