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Freud and the Repetition Compulsion<\/h3>\nFreud and the Repetition Compulsion<\/h3>\nThis is one of my favorite observations by Freud: He observed that what has been forgotten or repressed is repeatedly and compulsively acted out by people. He concluded that this was the person\u2019s way of remembering the unconscious aspects of inner psychic structure and termed this phenomenon the repetition compulsion. It is the body’s way of remembering the past and as a result, we can see it in our present behaviours and attitudes. This can give us tremendous clues about healing our vulnerabilities and developing our unrealized potential.
\nFreud said: \u201cThe patient remembers nothing of what is forgotten and repressed, but expresses it in action. He reproduces it not in his memory but in his behaviour; he repeats it without of course knowing that he is repeating it\u201d. It is \u201can actual force, active at the moment [in his present experiences].\u201d E.g. it is seen in people \u201cwhose human relationships have the same outcome: such as the benefactor who is abandoned in anger after a time by each of his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s, however much they may otherwise differ from one another. Or, the lover whose love affairs with a woman passes through the same phases and reaches the same conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
According the theory of the Repetition Compulsion, we transfer the forgotten past on to persons or situations in our current situations. This means that it appears to be a problem that belongs to the present. We simply blame the current difficulty on the current person or situation. We may walk away from the person or situation, but we will not have worked through the issue that in fact belongs to the past & it will simply wait for a similar situation or person to appear in our lives, at which point the dynamic will be constellated again and we will repeat it again. The great thing about the Repetition Compulsion is that one does not have to necessarily delve into or remember the past (when we were often too young to mentally even conceive of what was happening); we can work with the present situation and our actions and the dynamic that appears in the present situation.<\/p>\n
Here’s an example: A highly intelligent, successful, attractive and creative woman desperately wants a relationship. But the kind of man she meets always turns out to be either emotionally or physically distant. He is either always travelling on business or has so many hobbies he has little time for her. He will leave it to her to contact him and to organize dates. He is unusually consumed with his children because of a divorce or he lives in another country. Another woman would drop any of these men. But she believes that if she works hard at it and on herself, the current man will start being available for her, will see how special she is, will love her and they will get married and they will be happy for ever after. Her background is that while she was growing up, even though she attained perfection in what she did at school and was the best at everything she did, she was not accepted by her parents one of whom was extremely aggressive, distant and in fact, only accepted her to some extent if she excelled, while her other parent was \u201cabsent\u201d – always silent and too weak to stand up for her daughter. Into her fourth decade, this woman continues to excel at everything, creating perfection to show that she would be a wonderful “catch” for a man. She continues trying to find ways to get these men to be more interested & can\u2019t understand why they don\u2019t because she is so perfect in every way. She doesn’t know how to recognize a warm, caring man who would accept her for who she is \u2013 for her strengths and her weaknesses, her talents and her idiosyncrasies and who would want to be with her and spend time with her. This is the Repetition Compulsion: She did not internalise that she is intrinsically valuable over and above what she can do. She continues to choose men who are unavailable, distant, abusive, humiliating and narcissistic and she continues to work harder and harder to make herself more acceptable according to what she thinks these men want her to be. But she never becomes good enough for them just as she was never good enough for her parents – no matter how perfect she became. How to work with a situation like this is a subject for another discussion!<\/p>\n
Besides having a Diplomate qualification in Analytical psychology, which qualifies me to write about the theory and practice of dream interpretation, I also have an Honours degree in Applied Psychology and a Masters degree in Research psychology, which qualify me to write about theories of human development, personality, abnormal psychology, social psychology, sociology and ethics. Also, theories and knowledge pertaining to sleep and dreams from a perspective of neuropsychological and biological systems.<\/p>\n Leslie specializes in Analytical Psychology, Voice Dialogue, Life Coaching solutions for business executives. Consulting and coaching for family owned and home-based business Member: SAPC (South African Psychoanalytic Confederation); AGAP (Association of Graduate Analytical Psychologists, Switzerland); SAAJA (Southern African Association of Jungian Analysts); IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Freud and the Repetition Compulsion This is one of my favorite observations by Freud: He observed that what has been forgotten or repressed is repeatedly and compulsively acted out by people. He concluded that this was the person\u2019s way of … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jungian.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_03292.png\" "\\"IMG_0329\\"")
<\/a>Leslie Zimmermann is a Jungian Analyst trained in the philosophy and psychology of C.G. Jung in Zurich and is based in Johannesburg. She offers a range of services, which she integrates, to meet the needs and aspirations of people. In a word, her work is in the service of wholeness. Wholeness includes both our vulnerabilities and our strengths, becoming conscious of our own unique mix of these, honoring our own unique way of functioning and with this knowledge and confidence, contributing as only we each can in our own way, to this evolving world we find ourselves to be a part of.<\/p>\n
\nFor an appointment Leslie Zimmermann can be contacted on:
\nEmail:<\/strong> leslie.zimmermann@gmail.com
\nMobile:<\/strong> +27 (0)83 384 9812<\/p>\n