ABSTRACT
The concept of homeostasis was introduced by the physiologist W. B. Cannon in his book Wisdom of the Body, published in 1932. The concept refers to the physiological processes thanks to which the body tends to keep the composition of the bloodstream constant. If the concept of homeostasis is imported into descriptions of psychical phenomena during psychoanalytical treatment, this is because different spheres are in relationship with one another and in each of them there is a certain equilibrium in the energy deployed in the system. Variations in homeostasis during a session, in the presence of the transference object, put the functions of the primitive ego to the test in its primary capacity of discriminating between actual and hallucinatory wish-fulfilment. The function of discrimination, which constitutes the primary ego, is an initial structuring of what—after a lengthy series of successive nonlinear integrations governed by their deferred and retroactive impact—will end up being a psychical personality.
