Self-constitution and “Infrastructural” Change: An Interdisciplinary Account of Psychoanalytic Action

Beyond revealing unconscious pathological identifications and traits—including their past usefulness but current toxicity—what techniques in our psychoanalytic practice can lead to change? Radically different from mainstream philosophical views advocating that such undesirable self-aspects should not be endorsed as Self, psychoanalysts hold that these negative traits must instead be understood as part of one’s Self. But then what? Investigating concepts from classical conditioning, neuroscience, the philosophy of mind and action, and psychoanalytic practice itself, this article will suggest a preliminary account of the mechanism of action of psychoanalytic work after insight.