Adriano Bugliani | Università degli Studi di Firenze (University of Florence) (original) (raw)
Papers by Adriano Bugliani
Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis, 2023
All the empirical literature on what is effective in psychotherapy, not just psychoanalytic thera... more All the empirical literature on what is effective in psychotherapy, not just psychoanalytic therapy, ends up emphasising relationship and personality. And when you talk about relationship or about the working alliance, you're talking about the two parties making an attachment to each other, which is just a fancy word for love. I will try to show how this applies to a very difficult case.
Psychoanalytic Dialogues, May 4, 2023
In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachme... more In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachment bonding are based exclusively on positive transference. When the harmful absence of negative transfer- ence is overlooked, rage and aggression become sequestered in the unconscious field. It is also well understood in the broader psycho- analytic community that conflict and aggression, when experienced, acknowledged, and processed inside a safe therapeutic relationship, is a powerful antidote to helplessness and hopelessness. We also sug- gest that an overemphasis on the impact of trauma may run the risk of making it the “essence” of the therapy, unconsciously encouraging clients to feel nailed to their wounds, as if they have completely lost their capacity for self-agency. This is the story of Claire, a young woman with severe and chronic relational trauma with whom Adriano worked for six years. When both Adriano and Claire suffered a loss of faith and the therapy became stymied by its limitations in providing an answer to this dilemma, Adriano called upon the philo- sophy of Hegel, whose valuing of the restorative power of “tarrying” with despair gave him support and comfort as he struggled with his own helplessness and fear in the face of Claire’s abject darkness. As a footnote, we are happy to report that at the time of this paper’s publication, Claire is now a practising psychologist and has been married to her husband for three years.
PSYCHOANALYTIC DIALOGUES, 2023
In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachme... more In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachment bonding are based exclusively on positive transference. When the harmful absence of negative transfer- ence is overlooked, rage and aggression become sequestered in the unconscious field. It is also well understood in the broader psycho- analytic community that conflict and aggression, when experienced, acknowledged, and processed inside a safe therapeutic relationship, is a powerful antidote to helplessness and hopelessness. We also sug- gest that an overemphasis on the impact of trauma may run the risk of making it the “essence” of the therapy, unconsciously encouraging clients to feel nailed to their wounds, as if they have completely lost their capacity for self-agency. This is the story of Claire, a young woman with severe and chronic relational trauma with whom Adriano worked for six years. When both Adriano and Claire suffered a loss of faith and the therapy became stymied by its limitations in providing an answer to this dilemma, Adriano called upon the philo- sophy of Hegel, whose valuing of the restorative power of “tarrying” with despair gave him support and comfort as he struggled with his own helplessness and fear in the face of Claire’s abject darkness. As a footnote, we are happy to report that at the time of this paper’s publication, Claire is now a practising psychologist and has been married to her husband for three years.
The Psychoanalytic Review, 2019
My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profoun... more My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profound imprint on me. After enduring that kind of one-person analysis for eleven years, I was not left with a favorable impression of the method. Originally trained as a classical psychoanalyst, I have since chosen to work intersubjectively and interactively, and I am shifting more deliberately and with more conviction toward an assimilative integrative psychotherapy approach. In this paper I tell the story of my personal analysis and outline the conclusions I have drawn from it that created a seismic shift in my way of thinking and working as a psychoanalyst.
«Dal Settecento c'è, quasi sempre in minoranza, ma sempre abbastanza forte, un'Italia europea, mo... more «Dal Settecento c'è, quasi sempre in minoranza, ma sempre abbastanza forte, un'Italia europea, moderna, progressista, che tende all'industrializzazione, al ringiovanimento del costume, al ripudio del peso morto delle tradizioni nazionali. L'Italia, tanto per localizzare le cose in maniera topografica (pur con alquanta ingiustizia e approssimazione) di Torino e di Milano, contro quella di Roma, Napoli e Firenze». In sintonia con questa preziosa indicazione di Giulio Preti-risalente al 1960-questa collana intende riflettere, in modo spregiudicato e problematico, sulla complessa ed articolata tradizione del razionalismo critico che ha trovato, proprio nella cultura milanese e lombarda, dal Settecento fino all'epoca contemporanea (da Beccaria e i fratelli Verri a Romagnosi, Cattaneo e Ferrari, da Martinetti, Bontadini e Banfi, fino alla «scuola di Milano», alimentata dai contributi di studiosi come Preti, Paci, Cantoni, Dal Pra, Geymonat, per non fare che pochi nomi ristretti all'ambito filosofico, che andrebbe tuttavia dilatato e
Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 2020
ABSTRACT To help people own who they are, to get to their emotional basics, hold what they feel a... more ABSTRACT To help people own who they are, to get to their emotional basics, hold what they feel and be able to think even under the heaviest interpersonal pressure—this is my first and main therapeutic goal. The social consequences are that emotionally skillful people stop ignoring the inconsistencies they perceive in relationships; they ask for clarification once they no longer accept that their signaling is dismissed as “wrong” behavior. Their asking gives rise to fair conflicts, but a fair conflict is disrupting, because it involves a lot of bilateral exploration about established assumptions: relationships constantly exceed reached conclusions, if people have the courage to look at them with a fresh eye. This rupture-repair process is in turn based upon a degree of incongruence in human interactions as a source of endemic conflict: the mind is growing through its bridging of interactive gaps. Bearing the impact of full-range emotions arising from rupture-and-repair is anything but a comfortable societal ritual.
Epoché, 2010
Even if historiography had the aim to be more elevated than history, it never really succeeded in... more Even if historiography had the aim to be more elevated than history, it never really succeeded in finding more order in the historical events than the order which the point of view of common sense could see in them.In a certain sense historical writing remained obvious, that is, common sense, just like the flowing of the events it narrated. On the contrary, philosophy always claimed to give an account of human reality which was intended to be superior to human reality. That's the reason why philosophy never holds history in high esteem.
Attachment in the Time of the Pandemic, 2020
The catastrophe of the coronavirus is just a special circumstance in order to show that clinical ... more The catastrophe of the coronavirus is just a special circumstance in order to show that clinical flexibility and a therapist's responsiveness is a necessary way of working if we want to meet our clients' very different situations and expressed needs. For decades a large amount of research has been stressing that "one size fits all" approaches are therapeutically detrimental, especially if clinical protocols are applied rigidly and exclusively. On the contrary, clinicians are helpful if they are able to tailor their craftsmanship to their clients' specific conditions, in particular by realising that emotional closeness can be attained even through phone or Skype.
Iris, 2010
Discussing the internal dynamics of the psyche, Jung refers to certain problems in the life of th... more Discussing the internal dynamics of the psyche, Jung refers to certain problems in the life of the individual in which "conflict and disorientation ensue, an equally strong Yes and No which he can longer keep apart by a rational decision." The conflict "requires a real solution and necessitates a third thing in which the opposites can unite. Here the logic of the intellect usually fails, for in a logical synthesis there is no third. The 'solvent' can only be of an irrational nature." 1 Often things are not so different in politics. If in South Africa we had imagined an attempted agreement between the whites and the black "minorities," and between the black "minorities" themselves-to use a paradoxical but not meaningless expression of P. W. Botha, the Prime minister and subsequently the President of South Africa in the 1980s 2-it is hard to believe that any genuine solution would be found. Confronted by such a complex calculation, political reasoning in the usual sense would have been insufficient, including rational considerations of one's own interests (as the case of Palestine shows, forms of imposed segregation are not ultimately in the interest of the dominant power itself). And nor, I believe, would it have been effective simply to appeal to a democratic ideal that is very remote from the terrible post-colonial history of the country. I am not merely talking about "forgiveness" here, which is also a dimension of the irrational, insofar as this derives neither from a direct moral obligation, from any sense of: "you must," nor from a calculation that forgiveness could prove advantageous, quite apart from its character as a spontaneous act of goodwill. I am talking about the fact that even when all of the premises for change are given-the meaning and the advantages of forgiveness, the hope for something new, the weariness with continuing violence, considerations of political interest etc.-it is still quite possible that a genuine solution fails to be found. Such a solution has still not been found in Palestine, even if the great majority of people now desire it, on both sides to the dispute. Mandela had the ability to contain, to hold together, all the ingredients of a potential reaction to rapidly changing circumstances. If the whites and the blacks continued to live in proximity with one another in a
Rivista Di Letterature Moderne E Comparate, 2003
Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis, 2023
All the empirical literature on what is effective in psychotherapy, not just psychoanalytic thera... more All the empirical literature on what is effective in psychotherapy, not just psychoanalytic therapy, ends up emphasising relationship and personality. And when you talk about relationship or about the working alliance, you're talking about the two parties making an attachment to each other, which is just a fancy word for love. I will try to show how this applies to a very difficult case.
Psychoanalytic Dialogues, May 4, 2023
In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachme... more In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachment bonding are based exclusively on positive transference. When the harmful absence of negative transfer- ence is overlooked, rage and aggression become sequestered in the unconscious field. It is also well understood in the broader psycho- analytic community that conflict and aggression, when experienced, acknowledged, and processed inside a safe therapeutic relationship, is a powerful antidote to helplessness and hopelessness. We also sug- gest that an overemphasis on the impact of trauma may run the risk of making it the “essence” of the therapy, unconsciously encouraging clients to feel nailed to their wounds, as if they have completely lost their capacity for self-agency. This is the story of Claire, a young woman with severe and chronic relational trauma with whom Adriano worked for six years. When both Adriano and Claire suffered a loss of faith and the therapy became stymied by its limitations in providing an answer to this dilemma, Adriano called upon the philo- sophy of Hegel, whose valuing of the restorative power of “tarrying” with despair gave him support and comfort as he struggled with his own helplessness and fear in the face of Claire’s abject darkness. As a footnote, we are happy to report that at the time of this paper’s publication, Claire is now a practising psychologist and has been married to her husband for three years.
PSYCHOANALYTIC DIALOGUES, 2023
In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachme... more In our paper we discuss the therapeutic dilemma that arises when relational patterns and attachment bonding are based exclusively on positive transference. When the harmful absence of negative transfer- ence is overlooked, rage and aggression become sequestered in the unconscious field. It is also well understood in the broader psycho- analytic community that conflict and aggression, when experienced, acknowledged, and processed inside a safe therapeutic relationship, is a powerful antidote to helplessness and hopelessness. We also sug- gest that an overemphasis on the impact of trauma may run the risk of making it the “essence” of the therapy, unconsciously encouraging clients to feel nailed to their wounds, as if they have completely lost their capacity for self-agency. This is the story of Claire, a young woman with severe and chronic relational trauma with whom Adriano worked for six years. When both Adriano and Claire suffered a loss of faith and the therapy became stymied by its limitations in providing an answer to this dilemma, Adriano called upon the philo- sophy of Hegel, whose valuing of the restorative power of “tarrying” with despair gave him support and comfort as he struggled with his own helplessness and fear in the face of Claire’s abject darkness. As a footnote, we are happy to report that at the time of this paper’s publication, Claire is now a practising psychologist and has been married to her husband for three years.
The Psychoanalytic Review, 2019
My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profoun... more My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profound imprint on me. After enduring that kind of one-person analysis for eleven years, I was not left with a favorable impression of the method. Originally trained as a classical psychoanalyst, I have since chosen to work intersubjectively and interactively, and I am shifting more deliberately and with more conviction toward an assimilative integrative psychotherapy approach. In this paper I tell the story of my personal analysis and outline the conclusions I have drawn from it that created a seismic shift in my way of thinking and working as a psychoanalyst.
«Dal Settecento c'è, quasi sempre in minoranza, ma sempre abbastanza forte, un'Italia europea, mo... more «Dal Settecento c'è, quasi sempre in minoranza, ma sempre abbastanza forte, un'Italia europea, moderna, progressista, che tende all'industrializzazione, al ringiovanimento del costume, al ripudio del peso morto delle tradizioni nazionali. L'Italia, tanto per localizzare le cose in maniera topografica (pur con alquanta ingiustizia e approssimazione) di Torino e di Milano, contro quella di Roma, Napoli e Firenze». In sintonia con questa preziosa indicazione di Giulio Preti-risalente al 1960-questa collana intende riflettere, in modo spregiudicato e problematico, sulla complessa ed articolata tradizione del razionalismo critico che ha trovato, proprio nella cultura milanese e lombarda, dal Settecento fino all'epoca contemporanea (da Beccaria e i fratelli Verri a Romagnosi, Cattaneo e Ferrari, da Martinetti, Bontadini e Banfi, fino alla «scuola di Milano», alimentata dai contributi di studiosi come Preti, Paci, Cantoni, Dal Pra, Geymonat, per non fare che pochi nomi ristretti all'ambito filosofico, che andrebbe tuttavia dilatato e
Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 2020
ABSTRACT To help people own who they are, to get to their emotional basics, hold what they feel a... more ABSTRACT To help people own who they are, to get to their emotional basics, hold what they feel and be able to think even under the heaviest interpersonal pressure—this is my first and main therapeutic goal. The social consequences are that emotionally skillful people stop ignoring the inconsistencies they perceive in relationships; they ask for clarification once they no longer accept that their signaling is dismissed as “wrong” behavior. Their asking gives rise to fair conflicts, but a fair conflict is disrupting, because it involves a lot of bilateral exploration about established assumptions: relationships constantly exceed reached conclusions, if people have the courage to look at them with a fresh eye. This rupture-repair process is in turn based upon a degree of incongruence in human interactions as a source of endemic conflict: the mind is growing through its bridging of interactive gaps. Bearing the impact of full-range emotions arising from rupture-and-repair is anything but a comfortable societal ritual.
Epoché, 2010
Even if historiography had the aim to be more elevated than history, it never really succeeded in... more Even if historiography had the aim to be more elevated than history, it never really succeeded in finding more order in the historical events than the order which the point of view of common sense could see in them.In a certain sense historical writing remained obvious, that is, common sense, just like the flowing of the events it narrated. On the contrary, philosophy always claimed to give an account of human reality which was intended to be superior to human reality. That's the reason why philosophy never holds history in high esteem.
Attachment in the Time of the Pandemic, 2020
The catastrophe of the coronavirus is just a special circumstance in order to show that clinical ... more The catastrophe of the coronavirus is just a special circumstance in order to show that clinical flexibility and a therapist's responsiveness is a necessary way of working if we want to meet our clients' very different situations and expressed needs. For decades a large amount of research has been stressing that "one size fits all" approaches are therapeutically detrimental, especially if clinical protocols are applied rigidly and exclusively. On the contrary, clinicians are helpful if they are able to tailor their craftsmanship to their clients' specific conditions, in particular by realising that emotional closeness can be attained even through phone or Skype.
Iris, 2010
Discussing the internal dynamics of the psyche, Jung refers to certain problems in the life of th... more Discussing the internal dynamics of the psyche, Jung refers to certain problems in the life of the individual in which "conflict and disorientation ensue, an equally strong Yes and No which he can longer keep apart by a rational decision." The conflict "requires a real solution and necessitates a third thing in which the opposites can unite. Here the logic of the intellect usually fails, for in a logical synthesis there is no third. The 'solvent' can only be of an irrational nature." 1 Often things are not so different in politics. If in South Africa we had imagined an attempted agreement between the whites and the black "minorities," and between the black "minorities" themselves-to use a paradoxical but not meaningless expression of P. W. Botha, the Prime minister and subsequently the President of South Africa in the 1980s 2-it is hard to believe that any genuine solution would be found. Confronted by such a complex calculation, political reasoning in the usual sense would have been insufficient, including rational considerations of one's own interests (as the case of Palestine shows, forms of imposed segregation are not ultimately in the interest of the dominant power itself). And nor, I believe, would it have been effective simply to appeal to a democratic ideal that is very remote from the terrible post-colonial history of the country. I am not merely talking about "forgiveness" here, which is also a dimension of the irrational, insofar as this derives neither from a direct moral obligation, from any sense of: "you must," nor from a calculation that forgiveness could prove advantageous, quite apart from its character as a spontaneous act of goodwill. I am talking about the fact that even when all of the premises for change are given-the meaning and the advantages of forgiveness, the hope for something new, the weariness with continuing violence, considerations of political interest etc.-it is still quite possible that a genuine solution fails to be found. Such a solution has still not been found in Palestine, even if the great majority of people now desire it, on both sides to the dispute. Mandela had the ability to contain, to hold together, all the ingredients of a potential reaction to rapidly changing circumstances. If the whites and the blacks continued to live in proximity with one another in a
Rivista Di Letterature Moderne E Comparate, 2003
An essay on the nature of consciousness in Fichte, with a comparison to the development of the sp... more An essay on the nature of consciousness in Fichte, with a comparison to the development of the spirit in Hegel.
About power in its ordinary roots.
An analysis of the meeting point between Hegel's philosophy and some theoretical backgrounds of p... more An analysis of the meeting point between Hegel's philosophy and some theoretical backgrounds of psychoanalysis.
European Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2022
Maroda's main thesis is that psychoanalytic treatment, and psychotherapy in general, is suited to... more Maroda's main thesis is that psychoanalytic treatment, and psychotherapy in general, is suited to people who have learned self-sacrifice much sooner than they were capable of reflective thinking. Some of us are apparently more active in challenging clients, and in not submitting to their worst behaviours, but in the end, it seems that we all come from the same root.