Conceptualizing splitting: On the different meanings of splitting and their implications for the understanding of the person and the analytic process

• Published in: International journal of psychoanalysis Vol. 96; no. 1; pp. 123 - 139
• Main Author: Blass, Rachel B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 01.02.2015; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 'splitting of representations' 'splitting of the mind'; Consciousness; Defense Mechanisms; disavowal; Education Section, Splitting; Ferenczi; Freud; Humans; hysteria; Kernberg; Klein; Kohut; Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalytic Theory; Psychotherapeutic Processes; split; splitting 'splitting as dissociation'; splitting as disavowal; Terminology as Topic; trauma; trauma; split; Ferenczi; ‘splitting of representations’ ‘splitting of the mind’; Freud; Kohut; splitting as disavowal; Klein; disavowal; Kernberg; hysteria; splitting ‘splitting as dissociation’

While "splitting" is a familiar concept, its meaning is not as self-evident as is commonly assumed. In different contexts, it refers to different phenomena and is supported by different understandings of psychic dynamics. In this paper, the author presents four different conceptualizations...