Maxine Gower - Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis |
AGGRESSIONOne of the defining features of human beings is that they can be aggressive towards themselves and others. Aggression has a role to play in protecting us and sustaining us. It is always a part of conflict, which is something we all experience, and as such it needs to be integrated into our emotional vocabulary. Given this fact, how might one embrace this aspect of one's humanness and bring creativity and imagination into the equation? When one learns how to use aggression in the service of life one can feel a renewed sense of aliveness. In the Modern Psychoanalytic tradition, aggression is seen as a life force and as such it deserves much understanding and attention. Have you noticed how much energy there is when one is angry or reactive in some way? Ever wondered where all that energy is coming from and what intelligence might belie it? What if one was able to harness that energy and use it in the service of life and life giving causes rather than for destructive or death oriented purposes? What if we were actually able to enjoy our aggression and accept it as an intrinsic and inseparable part of ourselves? What might it look like to enjoy one's sadistic or murderous or vengeful feelings, without ever harming oneself or others?
Please see my article entitled "Revenge: Interplay of creative and aggressive forces" in the Winter 2005 edition of the CCMPS Newsletter at the www.ccmps.net website for an elaboration of this perspective. |
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