Presented by Giuseppe Civitarese, MD, PhD with Discussant Joseph Aguayo, PhD

Terms such as vitality and authenticity are difficult to define. Moreover, they are not truly psychoanalytic concepts. However, when psychoanalysis attempts to theorize the non-specific aspects of treatment, such as those related to the person of the analyst, it becomes inevitable to refer to them. The thesis of this article is that vitality should be taken out of its vagueness and transformed as much as possible into a precise psychoanalytic concept. This can be done by discussing it in the light of Bion’s concept of negative capability and the post-Bionian theory of the analytic field. Every time the analyst rediscovers to her surprise the dreamlike dimension of the session, she becomes more vital and reinvests in the patient, the analysis and the psychoanalytic method. Then, she realizes that she is always a character in the narratives of the analytic conversation and has the chance to try to guess what is happening by relying on her intensified physical or emotional reaction.