Rhythm and the Intersubjective Development of the Psyche-soma: Celebrating the Work of Victor Guerra

Victor Guerra (1958-2017) was an extremely well-known and renowned Uruguayan psychologist and psychoanalyst in Latin America and other parts of the world. He was a member of the Asociación Psicoanalítica del Uruguay (APU) and a member of the Board for Children and Adolescents of the Psychoanalytic Federation of Latin America (FEPAL) from 2014 to 2016. Based on his experience and PhD research, he developed and displayed an illustrative documentary on the Indicators of Intersubjectivity, which shows how the baby develops through the spectrum of relational subjectivation in co-construction with primary objects during the first year of life.

In his clinical practice, Victor lived with a unique sensitivity, creativity, and depth, weaving words, rhythms, and knowledge in his own profound way. He often emphasized the importance of the baby’s and young child’s sensory experiences in joint clinical encounters with them and their parents. Victor was a psychoanalyst of encounters, a poet of relationships and their unique rhythms. With great care, he would discuss dense and significant psychoanalytic concepts, always allowing himself to be influenced by the arts—poetry, literature, cinema, and short films—thus capturing the “sublime” in humanity. This capacity to engage with various belief systems and narratives was central to his practice and thinking.

Victor devoted his life to working with babies, children, and their parents. His doctoral thesis explored the rhythm and the maternal law, positing the hypothesis that rhythmic encounters foster subjectification and symbolization in the infant. Guerra questioned the long-standing focus on Lacan's paternal law in psychoanalytic thinking, suggesting instead a maternal law of encounter, which complements the paternal law and facilitates these vital early processes.

Though much of his work remains unpublished, his legacy lives on in the events, lectures, supervisions, and journal articles where his ideas were shared. This conference is an attempt to bring his lively thinking to the fore and to honour his work, and we are honoured to do so. We invite you to join us in celebrating and engaging with Victor Guerra's profound contributions to psychoanalysis.