The Transgenerational Oedipal Triangle
Pages 55 to 61
Cite this article
- CRAMER, Bertrand,
- Cramer, Bertrand.
- Cramer, B.
https://doi.org/10.3917/dev.041.0055
Cite this article
- Cramer, B.
- Cramer, Bertrand.
- CRAMER, Bertrand,
https://doi.org/10.3917/dev.041.0055
One always speaks about œdipial triangulation in terms of what happens between a child and his parents. The practice of parent-infant conjoint psychotherapy shows that a triangle can be built across three generations: the parent transfers into his/her child the remnants of his/her œdipial conflict with the child’s grandparents. This is done by projecting into the infant values, modes of relating, character traits that belonged to a grandparent. Continuity is thus maintained between psychological contents over three generations. While this has been mainly uncovered in mother-infant psychotherapies, it can be uncovered, through reconstruction, in adult psychoanalysis.
Keywords
- transmission
- triangulation
- projection
Publisher keywords: projection, transmission, triangulation