ABSTRACT
I first read the texts of the Controversial Discussions while I was still in training. At the time, they were unpublished, but accessible in the internal bulletin of the British Society. Having been brought up in Rio de Janeiro, before coming to England I belonged to a tradition that had strong links with French psychoanalysis. Whilst reading through these papers and discussions I noticed that the concept of après coup had not once been mentioned. And yet, I also thought that it might have been crucial in clarifying some fundamental conceptual differences. Descriptively some of the authors were very close to outlining some key aspects of the concept. Furthermore, the issues were more clearly discussed then than they have been since in the British Society.
