Introduction : Le Rorschach comme test (a)perceptif

in Englebert, Jérôme (Ed.) Test de Rorschach et perception : Perspectives cognitives et phénoménologiques (in press)

La magie et la sorcellerie des visages comme socle anthropologique de la philosophie sartrienne

in Année Sartrienne (L') : Bulletin du Groupe d'Etudes Sartriennes (in press)

L’« émotion » est la possibilité d’une « anthropologie de la relation ». Énoncer une telle proposition nécessite de définir les deux blocs qu’elle relie. Nous réaliserons cette entreprise en recourant à ... [more ▼]

L’« émotion » est la possibilité d’une « anthropologie de la relation ». Énoncer une telle proposition nécessite de définir les deux blocs qu’elle relie. Nous réaliserons cette entreprise en recourant à un troisième axe, intermédiaire : celui du visage ou, plutôt, des visages. La thèse de ce court essai tient à considérer que la phénoménologie sartrienne a déjà réalisé ce travail de fond qui requiert, pour le rendre explicite, articulation simple et ordonnancement. [less ▲]

L’« originalité » perceptive d’un sujet pervers au test de Rorschach

in Evolution Psychiatrique (in press)

The author starts with a discussion about two notions appearing into the Rorschach test: the perception and the apperception. By this way, it is suggest ways for a phenomenological study of the Rorschach ... [more ▼]

The author starts with a discussion about two notions appearing into the Rorschach test: the perception and the apperception. By this way, it is suggest ways for a phenomenological study of the Rorschach test. These proposals are consistent with those of the Comprehensive System (Proposed by John E. Exner). Then the author proposes a protocol analyzing of a patient with a perverse psychological functioning. In one hand, the result obtained by the Form Quality (FQ) is detailed in particular regarding to the status of unusual perceptions. According to the Comprehensive System proposed by J.E. Exner, a significant proportion of responses "u" (46% for this protocol) indicates that the person is not influenced by any social request or any expectation and some of his behaviors could ignore or avoid any question about social convention. From an other point of view, when analyzing these data, an adaptive dimension for these unusual perceptions is identified. The pervert perceives the stimuli that "really exists" according to him not everyone can perceive it. This advantage allows a better adaptation to the environment and the ability to change this environment. The manipulation (a particular skill that is most of the time attributed to the perverse person) is probably a consequence of having an original perception of reality. It is also discussed the interpretation of the "anatomical content" in connection with this adaptive hypothesis. In addition, the author also discusses a particular answer of the protocol: the answer "shoes" that presents a specific perceptual characteristic. [less ▲]

Changement, disparition ou éternel retour ?

Scientific conference (2014, January 27)

Corps commun et rupture anthropologique dans la schizophrénie

Conference (2013, November)

S’agissant d’une référence qui demeure incontournable en psychologie clinique et en psychopathologie, nous proposons de partir du cadre psychanalytique. Nous ferons le constat de difficultés tant ... [more ▼]

S’agissant d’une référence qui demeure incontournable en psychologie clinique et en psychopathologie, nous proposons de partir du cadre psychanalytique. Nous ferons le constat de difficultés tant théoriques que techniques concernant les notions d’espace, de temps et, plus fondamentalement, concernant le corps qui est cantonné à sa disposition hystérique. Par ailleurs, nous verrons que la phénoménologie permet de penser ce corps en tant que fondement de notre identité et de notre relation à l’autre. Il s’agit d’une donnée implicite qui n’est pas interrogée, une « sentinelle silencieuse » pour reprendre les propos de Merleau-Ponty. À partir de là, nous pourrons exposer en quoi la problématique schizophrénique se situe au niveau d’une rupture anthropologique quant à la manière de vivre son corps. Nous développerons également la différence qu’il y a entre le corps-pour-soi et le corps-pour-autrui et celle entre le corps paranoïde et le corps paranoïaque. Enfin, en guise de mise en perspective, nous développerons les concepts deleuzien de territorialisation et de ritournelle et montrerons en quoi le clinicien, s’il a à prendre en compte le corps de son patient dans sa réflexion, doit avant tout accepter de mobiliser son propre corps, de toucher son patient, de l’observer et de se laisser toucher par lui. [less ▲]

De la perversion au pervers ; du sexuel à l’adaptatif

Scientific conference (2013, June 08)

Les contenus anatomiques au test de Rorschach : comparaison des réponses de sujets infirmiers à une population contrôle.

in Encéphale (L') (2013), 39(2), 94-100

Introduction: The study of answer contents at Rorschach test leads to numerous debates and controversies. On a pragmatic point of view, the recurrent question is to understand the meaning of a content (or ... [more ▼]

Introduction: The study of answer contents at Rorschach test leads to numerous debates and controversies. On a pragmatic point of view, the recurrent question is to understand the meaning of a content (or its repetition) in a protocol. On a discursive and perceptive point of view, it is hazardous to give an interpretation other than descriptive and contextual. Indeed, no one interpretative theory or analysis method is able to determine with certainty and rigour a strict correlation between people’s psychological functioning and the contents they perceive. Methods: In this empirical context, we studied the “anatomy” answers (frequencies and formal qualities) in a nurse population (N=38) matched with a control group (non medical subjects, N=38). The Rorschach test was administrated according to the recommendations of Integrated System. Results: The average of An+Xy answers was clearly and significantly higher in nurse population (3.58) than in the control group (0.89) and than in the three comparative norms that we selected (from 0.96 to 1.83). Concerning the formal quality, the repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant interaction effect: although subjects in the control group gave a similar number of ordinary, unusual and minus forms for An+Xy answers, the nurses gave more wrong (minus) forms (1.79) than unusual forms (1.21) and finally than ordinary forms (0.58). un nombre significativement plus élevé de mauvaises formes (1.79) que de formes inhabituelles (1.21) et finalement que de formes ordinaires (0.58). Discussion: Two hypotheses may be suggested in order to explain our findings. From one part, there is highly probable that our results are linked to the everyday body confrontation in nurse job. From another part, we suggest that by giving An+Xy answers, nurses tend to reveal some idiosyncratic characteristics in order to show their own identity. Indeed, our nurse subjects were selected because of their job and then they complied with the social identity that was implicitly expected. This is congruent with the complex functioning in social reality: in a social group, people will not verbalize all of their perceptions, they will preferentially verbalize perceptions that define their social identity. On the contrary, if some perceptions do not comply with subject’s identity, these perceptions will be less frequently verbalized despite the fact that they were perceived. Concerning the second main finding, the inadequate formal quality of answers given by nurses emphasizes a visual misrepresentation conditioning by one’s job. This effect is interesting on a psychological point of view because it suggests that this tendency to perceive more anatomical contents arises to the detriment of the “reality”. Finally, our findings allowed us to suggest hypothesis on the role of identity on answer contents at Rorschach test according to the context and to formulate some recommendations about the content use in the Rorschach interpretation. [less ▲]

Quelques éléments en faveur d’une réflexion psychopathologique sur la psychopathie : première partie

in Annales Médico-Psychologiques (2013), 171(3), 141-146

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to offer some clinical and semiological considerations for a psychopathological conception of psychopathy. In the first part the author provides a history of ... [more ▼]

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to offer some clinical and semiological considerations for a psychopathological conception of psychopathy. In the first part the author provides a history of this diagnosis (see Introduction of this paper) and a description of the current trends in the international literature: the contributions of R.D. Hare and the PCL-R, D.J. Cooke and the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) and T.H. Pham for French-speaking validations (subtitle 2 of this paper). After that, the author proposes a definition of psychopathology in the sense of Minkowski and Jaspers proposals (i.e. these latter come from the principles of the continental phenomenology) (subtitle 3 of this paper). Patients and methods : This theoretical essay is improved by clinical situations. The psychopaths were interviewed in prison or in forensic centers. The method used was a psychopathological analysis from the clinical material , as well as references to the phenomenological psychopathology (continental phenomenology) and the philosophy of J.-P. Sartre, M. Foucault and P. Ricoeur. Results: This study shows that it is useful to consider a psychopathological reflection on psychopathy and this approach gives a framework for the clinical investigations. Regarding that, the author proposes a first comparison between the binswangerian conception of mania and the psychopathic functioning (subtitle 4 of this paper). By this way, we can understand why many studies show a positive correlation between the scoring in the PCL-R and the scale of the MMPI mania. The behavior is similar but the difference is about the dialectic between the “ego” and the “alter ego”. The maniac has a fundamental crisis of the “ego”, which the psychopath does not have. A second finding of our investigations concerns emotions and the dimension of the adaptive psychopathic disorder (subtitle 5 of this paper). An epistemological discussion of the concept of emotions allows us to say that the psychopath is competent in the management of emotional stimuli, which confers a psychological advantage to him. In addition, fundamental research on the management of the emotional stimuli in the psychopath seems to confirm our hypothesis of an adaptive dimension for the psychopathic disorder. The last point we discuss is about “morality” and “ethics” for the psychopath (these notions are from the concepts of empathy and sympathy). On the basis of Foucault's distinction between these two concepts, it becomes possible to study these dimensions and integrate them in the practice of psychopathology. This proposal enables to introduce the concept of narrativity. This observation prompts the clinician to listen to the patient and to pay attention to how he has to tell himself. Conclusions: Our contribution shows that it is possible to conduct a study about the psychopathology of psychopathy. Our study is not intended to be complete and irrefutable. Our goal is rather to give some evidence for a psychopathological consideration on psychopathy (as indicated by the title of this paper). Finally, we offered some thoughts on the practice of psychotherapy by integrating the adaptive dimension of this disorder which, when it is missed, can lead to a psychotherapeutic stalemate. [less ▲]

Entre corps et psychopathologie : l'homme en situation

Scientific conference (2013, January 18)

Phénoménologie des troubles de l'humeur

Scientific conference (2012, December 18)

Dans les classifications nosographiques modernes (DSM-IV et CIM-10), comme dans la littérature spécialisée (Akiskal, 2001 ; Akiskal et al., 2006 ; Kasper & Hirschfeld, 2005), la mélancolie et la manie ... [more ▼]

Dans les classifications nosographiques modernes (DSM-IV et CIM-10), comme dans la littérature spécialisée (Akiskal, 2001 ; Akiskal et al., 2006 ; Kasper & Hirschfeld, 2005), la mélancolie et la manie font partie des troubles de l’humeur. Si l’on se met d’accord sur une définition solide de l’humeur , la place de celle-ci, et plus généralement de l’émotion, au sein de ces manifestations psychopathologiques est incontestable. Cependant, doit-on considérer qu’il s’agit de l’« organisateur structurel » de ces deux entités ? Nous pensons que non et tâcherons de démontrer que la mélancolie et la manie sont avant tout des pathologies de l’identité. [less ▲]