In Search of a Vital Self Part 1

In this chapter, Guntrip’s analysis, as influenced by the well-known Scottish psychoanalyst Ronald Fairbairn, is explored in depth. Guntrip, in reading Fairbairn’s work on the schizoid dimension of human living, consulted Fairbairn and initiated a psychoanalytic process consisting of four sessions per week, commencing on June 7, 1949, and continuing until its termination in 1960. During the analysis, Guntrip filled 11 exercise books of 200 pages with his rather ‘photographic’ memory of his dreams, free associations, as well as Fairbairn’s associations, commentaries, and interpretations, written immediately after the session to strengthen his impressions of his inner workings. The notes and dreams and their psychoanalytic implications are explored in detail in this chapter.