Perception, mark and representation: three cardinal points to guide a psychosomatic theory and practice

Abstract

The conception about the ability to symbolize in patients with somatic diseases can be enriched if we consider different levels of symbolization. Based on this, in this paper it is postulated that there are somatizations that only indicate an excess, others that mimic a stimulus or an imaginary scene and others that symbolize an affective situation and complex links in conflict. To address them, it is proposed to study the relationship between perception, mark and representation, taking into account the relationship between the world, the body and the other. Like a banner on the street congratulating a graduation or announcing a private event, the process of condensation of the body, the world and the other is fixed on the skin or on an organ and exposed to all as a mark that can be perceived forever. Everything works as if that mark has been registered separately from the one that promotes words and language, has replaced it to face certain realities and has been linked to an innervation, an organ, a chemical reaction or a genetic expression. The person and the body of the analyst must allow themselves to be involved in that private event through a particular transference that must be understood and interpreted through analytical acts and a more active attitude than the traditional one, without losing sight of the most consistent knowledge of his theory and practice.