Alberto Eiguer’s scientific contributions

This article looks back on the evolution of the clinical concept of narcissistic perversion since its coining by R-C. Racamier, the contributions of different authors, its application to legal expert opinion, business and the social arena and finally the clinical features of moral predation. Its psychopathology is studied; the place of pathological narcissism makes it easier to understand its incidence in psychoses and borderline states. For the therapeutic approach to the difficulty of transference in particular, the idea of the intersubjective link enables us to move forward in the analysis and identification of mechanisms which attempt to implicate another psyche.

Narcissistic perversion, an evolving concept This article looks back on the evolution of the clinical concept of narcissistic perversion since its coining by P.-C. Racamier, the contributions of different authors, its application to legal expert opinion, business and the social arena and finally the clinical features of moral predation. Its psychopathology is studied ; the place of pathological narcissism makes it easier to understand its incidence in psychoses and borderline states. For the therapeutic approach to the difficulty of transference in particular, the idea of the intersubjective link enables us to move forward in the analysis and identification of mechanisms which attempt to implicate another psyche.

The author studies the intersubjective links which the pervert maintains with analyst or partner, attempting to indicate the differences between the investments in each case. Rather than accepting that empathy towards these patients is impossible to achieve and disturbs the countertransference profoundly, it attempts to show that these difficulties may be overcome if they are reinterpreted in the light of the theory of the intersubjective link. The author examines the theories and the practice of intersubjectivity and gives a definition of his approach to the link between two subjects. He applies these ideas to the case of a sexually masochistic female patient. The countertransference is marked successively by indifference, rejection and smothering. The analysis of the analyst's dream allows the situation to evolve. Failures in primary identification can result in domination over others and utilitarianism. The author examines the place of the challenge to the 'Law' and the father (in the attempt by the patient to put a theory to the test) in order to identify the figure of the witness in the pervert's intersubjective links. The desire of the transference would be marked by the figure of the witness rather than by that of the analyst as accomplice.

Migration and false-self. Recent perspectives The author tackles one of the difficulties of the trauma of migration, the transformations that operate on a level of self and identity, with regard to mental suffering and psychic disorganization. The subject adapts a part of his self into a “false self” in order to adapt to the real and/or supposed requirements of the environment and culture of his host country. By studying the functioning of this part of the self, which has a tendency to mimicry and hyper-adaptability, the author underlines the function of ego splitting in stifling desire. What results is a greater loss of self-esteem.