Inhabiting one’s desire: Ontological psychoanalysis theoretical framework

Abstract

According to Thomas Ogden ontological psychoanalysis is an epistemological approach who emphasizes the being and becoming of the patient during the analysis.Through a rereading of the works of Winnicott, Bion and Lacan, the aim is to provide a precise theoretical conceptualization of what ontological psychoanalysis is. In particular, it is explored how this new approach contributes to rethinking the characterizing elements of psychoanalysis such as the concept of the unconscious, setting, symptom, life and death drive and the healing process. Central to the ontological approach is the work with subjectivity and the possibility of the patient himself to inhabit his own desire. The importance in clinical work is not given so much to the contents but rather to the process of growth  of the subjectivity and singularity of the patient himself. From this point of view, ontological psychoanalysis is a one-to-one cure, it is a complex theory of subjectivity that does not accept reductionisms, whether of a biological or psychological nature.