Jacques Lacan and the revolution of psychoanalysis – Online Psychologists

Jacques Lacan (Paris, 1901) was a psychiatristFrench philosopher and psychoanalyst who broke with the senses of classical logic and contributed a new way of practicing psychoanalytic clinic.

From the Birth of psychoanalysis at the hands of Sigmund Freuddifferent schools and theories emerged. While some of these schools moved away from their origins, others followed classical psychoanalysis, introducing a series of innovations. The figure of Jacques Lacan It marked a turning point in this regard.

This author believed that evolution had led to a departure from the basic pillars of psychoanalysis. For this reason proposed to return to the origins through a Review of Freud's work.

Jacques Lacan studied medicine and He specialized in psychiatry at the Saint-Anne Hospital in Paris. After defending his thesis on paranoid psychosis and its relation to personality, in 1934, he was invited to join the Psychoanalytic Society of Paris.

It is important to note that as his career progressed, Lacan moved from conventional psychiatric treatment to psychoanalytic therapy.

In 1936 he published The mirror stagehis first major contribution to the world of psychoanalysis. But what is it?

The study focuses on the children from 6 to 18 months. At this time, children already recognize their own image in the mirror and are perceived as one being. This directly results in and influences the ego formation and is a stimulant for the development of children, according to Lacan. In fact, this theory was refined over time with the aim of representing the development of the personality, impressions and behaviour of children.

TO root of this theoryLacan presented The mirror state: the theory of a structural and developmental moment in the construction of reality, conceived in relation to psychoanalytic experience and teachinga document in which the French psychiatrist related the ego with a representation of the primary narcissism.

As we have already mentioned, Jacques Lacan is known for his «Return to Freud»which consisted of a critical review of the main theories of the Austrian.

Lacan based his work on the revision of the theories of Freud. Their goal was update, expand and redefine the work of the father of psychoanalysis.

Although he proposed this return to Freud's work, the French psychiatrist developed a personal and individual thinkingas well as his own line of research. Lacan offered a new proposal of thinking about the subject in psychoanalysis. In addition, he proposed the theory that it is not the subconscious that determines language, but the opposite.

He also argues that we cannot respond to the lack of the «other» and that acceptance of this fact requires maturity in individuals.

It should be noted that a large part of the members of the world of psychoanalysis did not agree at all with his approach and his theoretical evolution meant the Breakup of the Paris Psychoanalytic Society.

In addition, its connection with the Freudian movement caused tensions with the IPA, the International Psychoanalytic Association and led to a great estrangement with his French colleagues

This is a controversial figure who was not able to avoid criticism, in fact he was accused of being a charlatan and authoritarian.

Jacques Lacan played an important role in the world of psychology and his theories have marked a before and after in the way psychoanalysis is practiced.

He was responsible for developing the Theory of the three orders: the imaginary, the symbolic and the realIn fact, much of his professional career revolved around this theory.

But what does this research developed by Lacan consist of?

Jacques Lacan is responsible for reassigning the I, Superego and Id of Sigmund Freud and identifies these concepts with the three orders already mentioned:

Furthermore, Jacques Lacan revolutionizes the practice of psychoanalysis and rejects the term patient as we know it in relation to those people who suffer from psychological problems.

According to Lacan, the «patient» becomes the protagonist during therapy and must take an active roleanalyzing his own thoughts. He also maintains that the psychoanalyst must reflect with him on his internal discourse in order to analyze it and verbalize his traumas or repressed thoughts.

Another reason why Jacques Lacan revolutionized the concept of psychoanalysis known and accepted until then was his decision to cut sessions.

Lacan refused to accept and follow the established norm regarding the duration of the sessions, since they had to last 50 minutes according to the International Psychoanalytic Association.

Lacan highlights the importance of the sessions short, that is, sessions divided and of short duration.

Throughout his career Jacques Lacan made numerous Conferences about their theories and incorporated into these various disciplines among which mathematics, art, literature and science stand out. philosophy.

In 1953 he resigned from the Psychoanalytic Society of Paris due to the controversies generated around its methods and study systems, and was responsible for developing the French Society of Psychoanalysis along with other detractors.

The figure of Sigmund Freud is a basic pillar in Lacan's biography, It is worth noting that in 1964 he founded the Freudian School of Paris, which would later be called the School of the Freudian Cause.

Jacques Lacan was, without a doubt, one of the most influential figures in it Parisian academic environment for much of the 20th centuryHis ideas were highly influential in French critical and literary theory and philosophy, as well as in sociology and clinical psychoanalysis.

Although the literature by Jacques Lacan is very extensivewe can highlight the following titles by the author as the best known or those that have had the most influence: