It's high time to abandon the method of free associations. Dream
interpretation, and interpretation of mythological material, is best
performed with the methods of amplification and contextualization.
Much have been said in dream interpretation, and mythic amplification,
that goes beyond Freud's ideas. The student can begin by studying
Marie-Louise von Franz, for instance.
It is interesting to note that Ludwig Wittgenstein hit the nail on the
head
when criticising free associations. He criticized Freud's free
associations sharply and said that it was a "weird" method because
Freud didn't show how it should end, that is, what should be the right
solution. It was only an endless process that could up anywhere and
the reason why the doctor settles for a particular analysis depends on
speculation, on "mythological" explanations.
Following Wittgenstein's critique, associating quite freely ought
equally well lead out of context than hit the tender spot.
Comparatively, the method of "word association" (by "jot punkt" (J.),
as Freud calls him in his letters) defines where the association
should end, namely at the heart of the complex. When the doctor says a
word that is closer to the complex, the patient's response is noted
and typically the voice falters or the response is slower, etc.
The ability to see things as they are (persons, especially), without
bias, ought to be the ideal of a psychologist. Wittgenstein found that
the habit of generalizing and abstracting distorts the real nature of
the subject matter. The correct method is to look and see what it
actually is. When attention to detail is abandoned "...language goes on
holiday". What is needed is therefore a cure for the philosophical
impulse, a therapy rather than a theory.
In psychoanalysis there is a similar problem. Too much theory is
applied on outer phenomena, bodily parts, client behaviour, little
children's games. This is a kind of theoretical feti****sm.
Dream analysis can be frustrating because you sometimes cannot
come to grips with a dream. Neurotic people often find this unacceptable
as it questions their ego, and their competence. A neurotic doctor won't
admit that he cannot solve the enigma, so he lets the patient freely
associate and thus the original content has been estranged. Then it's
easier to apply the preconceived theoretical construct. One can focus
on things said that one believes coincides with one's psychoanalytic
understanding and theorize around it.
Mats Winther
|
