Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (대한소아청소년정신의학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Concept of Synchronized Individuation Based on the Characters in a Movie and a Fairy Tale

  • Moon, Duk-Soo (Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Jeju National University) ;
  • Bahn, Geon Ho (Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University)
  • Received : 2022.03.07
  • Accepted : 2022.03.14
  • Published : 2022.04.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Objectives: Among adolescent development tasks, being independent of parents is an essential process for emotional and physical separation. There are many conflicts of separation and individuation between parents and adolescents; however, most clinicians explore the process of separation and individuation only from adolescents' perspective. Whether simultaneously or sequentially, separation-individuation occurs between adolescents and parents, respectively. The authors have already introduced the theory of synchronized individuation in a clinical case to explain the concept of this intersubjective phenomena. This study also attempts to prove the synchronized individuation theory through the interaction of characters in a movie and a fairy tale. Methods: The authors present the basis for the theory of synchronized individuation of adolescence through the growing process of Mason Junior, the main character of the movie "Boyhood," and from the process of the separation of a hen, Sprout, and an orphaned duckling in "The hen who dreamed she could fly." Results: Synchronized individuation was developed and observed from Mason, the son's perspective in "Boyhood," and Sprout, the mother's subjective perspective in the story of the hen. Conclusion: Increasing conflict and mutual impact in the relationship between adolescents and parents, ambivalent feelings for separation, selective identification of each other, mutual respect through mutual recognition, and role changes in relationship position were confirmed. Sons and mothers were individualized with synchronization.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The theme of this paper was from Duk-Soo Moon's PhD thesis, 2015, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, titled as The introduction and application of the synchronized individuation in separation-individuation process between adolescents and parents.

References

  1. Mahler MS. Thoughts about development and individuation. Psychoanal Study Child 1963;18:307-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1963.11822933
  2. Mahler MS, Pine F, Bergman A. The psychological birth of the human infant: symbiosis and individuation. New York: Basic Books; 1975.
  3. Blos P. The second individuation process of adolescence. Psychoanal Study Child 1967;22:162-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1967.11822595
  4. Blos P. The adolescence passage: developmental issues. New York: International Universities Press;1979.
  5. Colarusso CA. The third individuation. The effect of biological parenthood on separation-individuation processes in adulthood. Psychoanal Study Child 1990;45:179-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1990.11823516
  6. Colarusso CA. Separation-individuation processes in middle adulthood: the fourth individuation. In: Akhtar S, Kramer S, editors. The seasons of life: separation-individuation perspectives. Northvale: Aronson; 1997. p.73-94.
  7. Colarusso CA. Separation-individuation phenomena in adulthood: general concepts and the fifth individuation. J Am Psychoanal Assoc 2000;48:1467-1489. https://doi.org/10.1177/00030651000480040601
  8. Moon DS, Bahn GH. The concept of synchronization in the process of separation-individuation between a parent and an adolescent. J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2022;33(2):41-47. https://doi.org/10.5765/jkacap.220003
  9. Lincoln S, Tzioumakis Y, Shary T. Boyhood: a young life on screen. London: Routledge;2017.
  10. Hwang SM. The hen who dreamed she could fly. New York: Penguin Books;2013.
  11. Park SY. The analysis of the main factor of the box-office hit in leafie, a hen into the wild. Korean Journal of Animation 2011;7:106-119.
  12. Baudry F. An essay on method in applied psychoanalysis. Psychoanal Q 1984;53:551-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/21674086.1984.11927085
  13. Benjamin J. An outline of intersubjectivity: the development of recognition. Psychoanal Psychol 1990;7(Suppl):33-46. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0085258
  14. Ogden TH. The analytic third: working with intersubjective clinical facts. Int J Psychoanal 1994;75(Pt 1):3-19.
  15. Ogden TH. The analytic third: implications for psychoanalytic theory and technique. Psychoanal Q 2004;73:167-195. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2167-4086.2004.tb00156.x
  16. Gerson S. The relational unconscious: a core element of intersubjectivity, thirdness, and clinical process. Psychoanal Q 2004;73: 63-98. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2167-4086.2004.tb00153.x
  17. Choi YM. Intersubjectivity: paradigm change in psychoanalysis. Psychoanal 2008;19:125-138.
  18. Cho ES. The developmental meaning in the folktale 'the man who become the son-in-law by three lies': focusing on synchronized individuation. Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education 2019;42:123-154.
  19. Barber BK. Parental psychological control: revisiting a neglected construct. Child Dev 1996;67:3296-3319. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131780
  20. Tyson P, Tyson RL. Psychoanalytic theories of development: an integration. New Haven: Yale University Press;1990.