ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Blegerian concept of the dialectical frame. Jose Bleger explored the implicit basic assumptions of psychoanalysis in order to frame problems, seek appropriate answers and contextualize a particular issue; he sought to compare in what ways different authors use the same terms. In the term ‘psychoanalytical praxis’, Bleger includes the complex relationship between psychoanalytical theory, technique and psychoanalytical institutions. The relevance of Bleger’s thinking is shown in the very way of going in search of the contradiction, since the formulation of contradictions changes as new problems arise. Bleger’s repeated criticism of the ‘biological’ conception of the theory of the instincts contains an error that paradoxically legitimizes his own criticism: he understood Freud to be giving the name of ‘instinct’ to what Freud himself named Trieb. Bleger anticipated as well a way of thinking about psychotic functioning and psychosis that has the potential for generating new ideas.
