Psychoanalysis: misunderstood discipline or outdated practice? This week, La Loupe questions “talk therapy”. In this third episode, Stéphanie Benz, deputy editor-in-chief of Sciences et Santé, and journalist Alexis Da Silva, who regularly collaborates with L’Express, return to the excesses of the practice.
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The team: Charlotte Baris (presentation), Léa Bertrand (writing and editing) and Jules Krot (direction).
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Charlotte Baris: If you’re a fan of action movies, you’ve probably recognized Agent 007 in “Skyfall,” directed by Sam Mendes. And there’s another iconic scene from the movie that you might know: while the British spy is undergoing a skills assessment, he has to undergo a psychological test.
This is precisely the word association test established by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in the middle of the 20th century. The therapist states a list of words out loud, and the interlocutor responds with the first term that comes to mind. The time and type of reaction would be indicators of his unconscious conflicts. And the slightest slip of the tongue can then prove revealing.
At first glance, this might all seem like a game. However, this technique – whose scientific reliability has not been demonstrated – has already been used in the past in certain legal cases. And the repercussions are considerable, as you will hear in this third episode of our series “Psychoanalysis on the couch”.
To go further
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Mazan rape case: the hazy theories of the experts involved in the Pelicot trial
Homophobia, retrograde vision of autism… The excesses of psychoanalysis at university