The Cat is on the Couch

Abstract

Although the place of house cats in our lives differs for each individual, they undoubtedly have two functions in our lives: The first of these is that we reflect the parts we find in ourselves in the cat's vulnerable/omnipotent stance, and the other is that we provide repair with the therapeutic effect of the cat through these reflections. The fact that the cat is a creature that reminds us of a baby's autistic and paranoid-schizoid periods and allows us to unconsciously revive and repair memory traces may be the reason behind our partnership with the cat. The question may be asked whether the cat is a tool for our desire to go to a time when we live in the pre-linguistic period, where we feel quite free and do not lose our essence, and where there is no third -language-. The cat can be both a reminder of pre-linguistic life and a tool through which our narcissistic vulnerability is repaired or reflected. For this reason, the cat finds its place in our work as a tool that allows us to explore the patient's psyche and to repair it in child, adolescent and adult therapy and analysis.