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==Jacques Lacan==[[Lacan]] argues that the concept of [[regression]] has been one of the most misunderstood concepts in [[psychoanalytic theory. In particular, he criticises sis (S7, 130)]].
In particular, he criticises the 'magical' view of [[regression]], according to which [[regression ]] is seen as a Beyond these remarks on real phenomenon, in which [[adults]] "actually regress, return to the concept state of religiona small child, Lacan's discourse aboundsand start wailing."
In this sense of the term, "[[Realregression]] phenomenon, in which adults 'actually regress, return to the state of a in metaphors drawn from Christian theologydoes exist."<ref>{{S2}} p. The most obvious example is103</ref>
===Temporal Regression===
Insofar as [[regression]] can be said to have a [[temporal]] sense, it does not involve the [[subject]] "going back in [[time]]," but rather a rearticulation of certain [[demand]]s:
"[[Regression]] shows nothing other than a [[return]] to the present of [[signifier]]s used in [[demand]]s for which there is a prescription."<ref>{{E}} p.255</ref>
[[Regression]] to the [[oral stage]], for example, is to be understood in terms of the articulation of oral [[demand]]s (the [[demand]] to be fed, evident in the [[demand]] for the [[analyst]] to supply [[interpretation]]s).
When understood in this sense, [[Lacan]] reaffirms the importance of [[regression]] in [[psychoanalytic treatment]], arguing that [[regression]] to the [[anal stage]], for example, is so important that no [[analysis]] which has not encoutnered this can be called completed.<ref>{{S8}} p.242</ref>
Some analysts assign this notion a metaphoric value; it retains the seminar connotations of 1972-3 he uses the term 'God' as a metaphor for journey through time and the [[big Other]],changes that will be necessary in psychoanalytic treatment.
Excitation traverses the system in a determined temporal order, going from the sensory end to the motor end.
Dreams have a regressive character due to the shutdown of the motor system; the trajectory goes in the reverse direction, toward perception and hallucinatory visual representation.
This regression is a psychological particularity of the dream process, but dreams do not have a monopoly on it.
In the section of the last chapter of The Interpretation of Dreams titled "Regression," Freud wrote that "in all probability this regression, wherever it may occur, is an effect of a resistance opposing the progress of a thought into consciousness along the normal path.
It is to be further remarked that regression plays a no less important part in the theory of the formation of neurotic symptoms than it does in that of dreams" (pp. 547-548).
In this last chapter Freud already distinguished between three types of regression: topographical regression, in the sense of the psychic system; temporal regression, in the case of a return to earlier psychic formations; and formal regression, where primitive modes of expression and representation replace the usual ones.
He also noted: "All these three kinds of regression are, however, one at bottom and occur together as a rule; for what is older in time is more primitive in form and in psychical topography lies nearer to the perceptual end" (p. 548).
This basic unity is central to his metapsychological use of the concept.
In Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905d) Freud implicitly invoked the idea of fixation, which is inseparable from regression.
In "A Metapsychological Supplement to the Theory of Dreams" (1916-17f [1915]), he underscored the distinction between "temporal or developmental regression" (of the ego and the libido) and topographical regression, and the fact that "[t]he two do not necessarily always coincide" (p. 227).
Then, in the twenty-second of the Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1916-17a [1915-17]), he distinguished two types of regression affecting the libido: a return to the earliest objects marked by the libido, which are of an incestuous nature, and a return of the entire sexual organization to earlier stages.
Libidinal regression is only an effect of temporal regression, with a reactivation of old libidinal structures preserved by fixation.
At that point he asserted that regression was a "purely descriptive" concept, adding: "we cannot tell where we should localize it in the mental apparatus" (pp. 342-343).
In making this assertion, he retrenched from his earlier position and denied regression its metaphysical status, which it would regain only after 1920 with the second theory of the instincts.
It then becomes constitutive of the death instinct and can threaten to destroy psychic structures, but also becomes a mechanism that can be used by the ego.
According to Marilia Aisenstein's article "Des régressions impossibles?" (Impossible regressions?), "Freud's reticence around the notion of regression in 1917 was linked to its relation to the first theory of the instincts and the first topography.
He had difficulty in situating and formulating regression not only in topographical terms, but above all in terms of the libido and the instincts of the ego..
It then became necessary to separate regression from disorganization, as the latter was envisioned by Pierre Marty and the psychosomaticians of the Paris School..
If the retrograde movement is not stopped by regressive systems involving fixations, the end result can be a process of somatization."
Regression is indispensable to the work of psychoanalytic treatment; it implies the notion of change and is part of the healing process, according to Donald W.
Winnicott (1958).
Regression is a form of defense and remains in the service of the ego.
From the analyst's point of view, formal regression provides another way of listening.
==See Also==
* [[Defense mechanisms]]
* [[Dream]]
* [[The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense]]
* [[Fixation]]
* [[Imago]]
* [[Libidinal development]]
* [[Libido]]
* [[Maternal]]
* [[Mourning and Melancholia]]
* [[Narcissistic withdrawal]]
* [[Paranoia]]
* [[Psychic causality]]
* [[Psychic temporality]]
* [[Psychoses]]
* [[Transference]]
* [[Representability]]
* [[Sadomasochism]]
* [[Self]]
* [[Sleep]]
* [[Stage]]
* [[Suicide]]
* [[Time]]
* [[Wish]]
== References ==
<references/>
* Freud, Sigmund. (1900a). The interpretation of dreams. Parts I and II. SE, 4-5.
* ——. (1905d). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. SE, 7: 123-243.
* ——. (1916-17a [1915-17]). Introductory lectures on psycho-analysis. Parts I and II. SE, 15-16.
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