ABSTRACT
In this chapter the author explains the case Clari. She aims to proceed along two interrelated axes: the profound presence of the uncanny in Clari’s world, and patient and analyst converging into a state of deep interconnectedness. Donald W. Wolfenstein’s intriguing paper does describe an experience of falling asleep that is very similar to mine in Clari’s treatment, particularly in the sudden, invasive, and overwhelming nature of the onset of the sleep “as if the author had been injected with a sleep-making drug.” R. Alexander also described the analyst’s “sleep” with certain withdrawn patients as a way “to further avoid the frustrating nature of the situation” S. M. Rittenberg, H. Kelman, and I. Brenner suggest additional conceptual contexts for the analyst’s sleepiness: Rittenberg attributes it to the “charm” of certain patients, which casts a spell over the analyst. Kelman relates his drowsy withdrawal to “resonant cognition” of the emotional impact of the patient’s sleepy, unavailable mother.
