I write as the febrile, volatile and divisive public mood that we experienced in relation to Brexit appears to be partially replicated by the anxiety associated with the corona virus. Both have engendered an atmosphere of fear of (external) contagion. A primary anxiety which takes the form of an externally malign, and highly infectious, danger which is concurrently both imagined and real. What we witness at these times are the (re)appearance of developmentally early defence mechanisms such as splitting and projection and their siblings – grandiosity, denigration, scapegoating and contempt. Needing at this time to move from a culture, and conversation, which privileges the ‘we’ over the ‘I’, how can we avoid recourse to the threatening ‘they’? How can a more thoughtful, relational, self-reflective culture endure when public discourse privileges a developmental ‘race to the bottom’, an appeal to one’s base emotions. What role can psychoanalytic understanding and practice have in a world which seems, in its manifest content at least, to favour divisiveness, rancour and unprocessed emotionality? Additionally, at a time when we are asked to self-isolate and avoid interaction with others to avoid contagion (whilst simultaneously recognising our fundamental need for each other), what place can the relational occupy? What kind of therapeutic conversations do we want to have – or are possible – in our contemporary culture? This forms a central question in this issue of Psychodynamic Practice. Our opening paper is a conversation between Nick Barwick and Adam Phillips which was the 2019 Birkbeck Counselling Association’s Autumn Talk. Entitled ‘Brexit, nationalism, populism: Where are we now? How did we get here? Where are we going?’ the discussion ‘takes psychoanalytic thought beyond the consulting room into the realms of (the) social, cultural and political.’ A reminder that there is such a thing called reality that we process through our own personal and social scripts. The consequences of living in real, and metaphoric, ‘gated communities’, or what others have described as ‘tribalism’ or ‘echo chambers’, are named, and the ensuing struggle to listen to, hear, and engage with views with which we disagree is discussed. In our currently volatile atmosphere, concepts such as ambivalence, doubt and uncertainty, as well as a certain thoughtful reciprocity, the capacity to mentalise, and the ability to entertain and engage with contradictory ideas – all central to the psychoanalytic project – are difficult positions to maintain and articulate. The upholding of these central psychoanalytic themes – as well as the capacity to bear loss, entertain ambivalence and mourning, and the acceptance and importance of vulnerability – have become problematic, and denigrated as signs of weakness in the public sphere. On the other hand, the conversation suggests that states of conviction, currently seemingly highly prized, can act as forms of self-cures, Psychodynamic Practice, 2020 Vol. 26, No. 2, 101–105, https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2020.1750098

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社论

我写道，我们在英国退欧方面所经历的狂热、动荡和分裂的公众情绪似乎部分被与冠状病毒相关的焦虑所复制。两者都造成了对（外部）传染的恐惧气氛。一种主要的焦虑，表现为一种外部恶性的、高度传染性的危险，它同时是想象的和真实的。我们在这些时候目睹的是发育早期防御机制的（重新）出现，例如分裂和投射及其兄弟姐妹——夸大、诋毁、替罪羊和蔑视。此时需要摆脱一种文化和对话，这种文化和对话将“我们”置于“我”之上，我们如何避免求助于具有威胁性的“他们”？一个更周到的、有关系的、当公共话语优先发展“逐底竞争”时，自我反思的文化就会持续存在，这是对一个人的基本情感的诉求。精神分析的理解和实践在一个至少在其显化内容上似乎有利于分裂、仇恨和未经处理的情感的世界中可以发挥什么作用？此外，当我们被要求自我隔离并避免与他人互动以避免传染时（同时认识到我们对彼此的基本需求），关系可以占据什么位置？在我们的当代文化中，我们想要——或者可能——进行什么样的治疗性对话？这形成了本期心理动力学实践的中心问题。我们的开篇论文是尼克·巴威克 (Nick Barwick) 和亚当·菲利普斯 (Adam Phillips) 之间的对话，这是 2019 年伯贝克咨询协会的秋季演讲。题为“英国退欧、民族主义、民粹主义：我们现在在哪里？我们是怎么来到这里的？我们去哪？' 讨论“将精神分析思想从咨询室带入社会、文化和政治领域”。提醒我们有一种叫做现实的东西，我们通过自己的个人和社会脚本来处理。生活在真实的、隐喻的、“封闭社区”或其他人所描述的“部落主义”或“回声室”中的后果，以及随之而来的倾听、倾听和参与我们所持有的观点的斗争不同意被讨论。在我们目前动荡的气氛中，矛盾、怀疑和不确定等概念，以及某种深思熟虑的互惠，心理化的能力，以及接受和处理矛盾想法的能力——所有这些都是精神分析项目的核心——是难以维持和表达的立场。坚持这些核心精神分析主题——以及承受损失、接受矛盾和哀悼的能力，以及脆弱性的接受和重要性——已经成为问题，并被贬低为公共领域软弱的迹象。另一方面，谈话表明，目前看似备受推崇的信念状态可以作为自我治疗的形式，心理动力学实践，2020 年卷。26, No. 2, 101–105, https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2020.1750098 以及脆弱性的接受和重要性——已经成为问题，并被贬低为公共领域软弱的迹象。另一方面，谈话表明，目前看似备受推崇的信念状态可以作为自我治疗的形式，心理动力学实践，2020 年卷。26, No. 2, 101–105, https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2020.1750098 以及脆弱性的接受和重要性——已经成为问题，并被贬低为公共领域软弱的迹象。另一方面，谈话表明，目前看似备受推崇的信念状态可以作为自我治疗的形式，心理动力学实践，2020 年卷。26, No. 2, 101–105, https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2020.1750098