Regression

Regression is not only an important metapsychological concept but also a continuously present experience in everyday life: the pleasurable wandering of thoughts and fantasies, the allowance of desire for pleasure, the engagement with ideal self-conceptions, or turns towards the destructive – all these fields of experience demonstrate its practical significance in life. The current, pluralistic psychoanalysis is increasingly attempting a critical review and realignment of the concept of regression against the backdrop of current theories and practical experiences. In this sense, Lutz Garrels discusses regression as a "concept in crisis" and outlines paths for a phenomenological re-approach – as a constructive starting point for a dialogically unfolding debate with the contributors of the volume. Main article and reply by Lutz Garrels, comments by Felix Brauner, Peter Geissler, Elfriede Löchel, Thomas Meier, Kai Rugenstein, and Carsten Spitzer.