Abstract
This paper addresses the silent, usually overlooked force in the therapeutic healing relationship, namely, the exterior, material, aesthetic design of the healing space and its impact on the theatricality of the therapeutic encounter. If we accept the premise that mental functioning includes unconscious awareness, we can then consider those spaces most conducive to engaging the unconscious and our inclination to dream, fantasize, and lose ourselves to reverie that are part of the healing process. This paper examines the spaces designed for this purpose. Through an ethnographic profile of the work spaces of several technicians of the unconscious – New York psychoanalysts, in particular – the specific qualities that inform the construction of a theater for the unconscious are addressed.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Psychotherapy, Material Culture, Healing, Unconscious
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