Agency, structure and subjectivity: Towards a new metaphorical model of the mind

Abstract

The current thesis is based on the research of the psychoanalytical concepts of agency, subject and structure while it correlates the same notions with the clinical observations of patients with personality disorder in crisis [patient group]. It also proposes an answer to the problem of agency and structure, incorporating structuration theory and recursivity. This is done by the construction and outline of a new framework, which is designated as the scaffolding model. The analysis of the analytical observations demonstrated that patients present in the clinical arena with dual narratives that include two accounts, which have been identified as the problem and the solution formed scenarios. This twofold situation is guided by a dyadic functioning process, which is a functional pattern that not only regulates language but it also maintains an integrated function in the brain and in the mind of the subject. It constitutes a new structure, which associates the brain-mind and language [+senses], forming a “self-organization system”. Agency, here, is the power or vacuum that allows symbolic action. This research offers a new tool in the treatment of members of the patient group or in the treatment of subjects who present ambivalently or in conflict. This new approach designated as dual narratives facilitate a different perspective than the ones already established, such as cognitive analytical therapy, which give answers to the same clinical situations. Dual narratives work at two levels. This is done by preventing risks and by looking into the causes of the ambivalence of the subject, using Lacanian concepts, such as the notion of the signifier, and exploring the subjective position.