Summary
Two clinical examples of the use of prelogical processes in therapy show dynamic insight that seems inevitable, but that is always trueafter the insight is achieved. The event may seem dramatic but only in a context where the therapist is afraid to reveal himself; otherwise it is simply human. It is the human importance as well as technical effectiveness that marks the clinical significance of these prelogical processes. Transactional interpersonal processes must be considered together with the hierarchical order of the modes of experience in the stream of consciousness in order to exploit fully the wider margins of our mental life with one another. This paper discusses the nature, and manifestations of prelogical processes, and their place in the heirarchical order, and gives a review of some of the pertinent literature, with particular attention to Charles S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and Harry Stack Sullivan.
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Presented to the Harry Stack Sullivan Society of the William Alanson White Institute, June 19, 1959.
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Green, M.R. Prelogical processes and participant communication. Psych Quar 35, 726–740 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01563723
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01563723