Repetition and the compulsion to repeat, a French perspective.

The discovery of a compulsion to repeat and its involvement in the elaboration of the second drive theory of the libido and the death drive was fundamental in the evolution of Freud's thought: psychic functioning was no longer governed by the pleasure principle alone, and this changed analytic technique. This led in 1923 to a change of topography in order to take into consideration the existence of destructiveness within the mind that Freud had hitherto underestimated.

Conceptual framework from the Paris Psychosomatic School: a clinical psychoanalytic approach to oncology.

This article presents further clinical material from the Paris Psychosomatic School (Aisenstein, 2006). The Freudian foundations of psychosomatics are detailed and post-Freudian developments focusing on the contribution of the Paris Psychosomatic School are outlined, in particular, the somatizing process as a result of regression and the somatizing process as a result of drive unbinding. The authors argue that the latter possibly gives rise to progressive and serious illness leading to death.

Beyond the dualism of psyche and soma.

After a historical survey in which the history of the term "psychosomatic" and its invention during the 19th century are retold, as is also the history of modern psychosomatics, the author offers a more personal view, the result of her experience as a classical psychoanalyst and as a practitioner for 27 years at the Paris Institute of Psychosomatics. She develops her current understanding of the theories of the Paris School of Psychosomatics, and selects and elaborates a certain number of concepts essential for clinical work with patients suffering from somatic illnesses. Detailed case studies of two very different patients who are both ill with cancer offer an attempt to show the relevance and application of this specific approach, but which still remains based on psychoanalysis and the most rigorous Freudian metapsychology.

On therapeutic action.

The author presents her views on therapeutic action in the light of an examination of key Freudian works. She also discusses the work of some psychoanalytic thinkers who followed Freud, such as Klein and Green. Lacan's thinking and his influence on French psychoanalysis are summarized.

The indissociable unity of psyche and soma: a view from the Paris Psychosomatic School.

Depending on whether or not psyche/soma is seen as singular or dual, one may construct different systems explaining man and the world, life and death. In the author's view, the discoveries of psychoanalysis offer a perfectly cogent and unique solution to the famous mind/body problem. In transferring the duality psyche/soma on to the duality of drives, psychoanalysis places the origin of the thought process in the body.

Does the cure come as a byproduct of psychoanalytic treatment?

Successful psychoanalytic treatment accomplishes more than symptom relief; it involves a psychic restructuring that is facilitated by the process of working through. The author reviews Freud's original description of this process and traces its evolution since then. Application of the psychoanalytic method as an appropriate therapeutic modality for non-neurotic patients is illustrated through the presentation of a clinical vignette.