ABSTRACT
Bérengère de Senarclens and Nick Temple explore the complex relations between somatisation and the impact of the ideal ego, the ego ideal, and the superego. Bérengère suggests that the ideal ego, originating from a very early period of life and constituting the heir to primary narcissism, is always connected to the body and to possible early traumatic experiences. In contrast, the protective intrapsychic structure of the superego/ego ideal, as heir to the oedipus complex, constitutes the transformation of the archaic ideal ego. The reactivation of early traumas can defensively bring back into action the sadistic ideal ego, Bérengère says. In some cases, somatisation or acting out are the only ways for unrepresented traumatic elements to be expressed. Nick distinguishes a harsh superego from a benign one. The harsh superego’s action transforms the psychic conflict into painful physical symptoms through displacement and somatisation; do the physical symptoms function as primitive forms of symbolization, asks Nick. The analyst’s countertransference capacity to respond in a thoughtful way operates as a benign superego function, he says. Fotis Bobos discusses the convergences and divergences between the two authors on a theoretical level and their implications for clinical technique.
