Carmen Lafuente Balle – In memoriam

[Automatic translation from Spanish]:

On 31 October, at the age of 69, doctor Carmen Lafuente Balle left us, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst of recognized prestige, not only in Spain but also in Latin America and France. Doctor Lafuente accumulated an extensive curriculum in both mental health and Lacanian orientation psychoanalysis throughout her career.

In relation to the former, his works can be highlighted in the Therapeutic Community of Malgrat, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Nou Barris, the Psicotherapy Center of Barcelona and the Sant Pere Claver Foundation, among others.

As she herself pointed out in her résumé, in the field of Lacanian-orientated psychoanalysis she actively participated in the creation and consolidation of institutional and teaching structures, in which she took on responsibility, in collaboration with other colleagues.

From the beginning of the arrival of Lacanian orientation psychoanalysis she actively participated in the creation and consolidation of institutional and teaching structures, taking on responsibility functions in collaboration with other colleagues. In this area, she was a founding member of the Psychoanalytic Forum of Barcelona and also a founding member of the Association for the Psychoanalysis Clinic and Teaching (ACCEP) of the Lacanian Field Clinical Training, of which she was Director of Studies in the period 2013- 2015. In addition, doctor Lafuente collaborated on several psychoanalytic publications (Pliegues, Heteridad, Link).

However, on a personal note, I would like to highlight some of the features that characterized her participation and involvement in the field of Lacanian orientation psychoanalysis.

Firstly, her accuracy and precision in exposing clinical cases or seminars, always showing a thorough knowledge of the work of Freud and Lacan and also the great masters of psychiatry, Clérambault, Kraepelin, Bleuler or Henry Ey.

Secondly, her passion in debates and discussions, arguing with solid arguments for her positioning in both theory and psychoanalytic practice.

And thirdly, their commitment to social issues. Proof of this was the organization of courses on current affairs—e.g., abuse of women— and her participation in debates. In them she always showed great consistency between saying and doing, a rare element in modern times. With her demise, psychiatry and psychoanalysis lose one of its most worthy representatives.

Josep Moya Ollé
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