Da mãe ao materno: do trabalho de construção do espaço psíquico e da capacidade para experiência de intimidade

Abstract

This study aims at describing the constitution of the capacity for intimacy experiences, articulating it to the conceptions of ‘maternal’ and ‘psychic space’, developed by Pontalis. It is a theoretical-clinical research through the psychoanalytic method, having as main theoretical references the works of D. Winnicott and J.-B. Pontalis. The clinical part is presented through two fictional characters created from clinical fragments of several patients. Using the Winnicottian theory as a base, the characteristics and functions of the good enough mother are approached, as well as mother’s insufficiencies in the initial care. The concepts of ‘maternal’ and ‘psychic space’ proposed by Pontalis are elucidated and a dialogue among the mentioned authors is proposed. The maternal and intimacy issues are addressed: their possibilities, impasses and conflicts in the presented cases and the clinical strategies that favor the establishment of intimacy in the analytical relationship