Afterburn is a psychological term coined by

Eric Berne Eric Berne (May 10, 1910 – July 15, 1970) was a Canadian-born psychiatrist who created the theory of transactional analysis as a way of explaining human behavior. Berne's theory of transactional analysis was based on the ideas of Freud but ...

, who defined it as "the period of time before a past event is assimilated".

Berne's formulation

, the founding father of

transactional analysis Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social interactions (or “transactions”) are analyzed to determine the ego state of the communicator (whether parent-like, childlike, or adult-like) as a b ...

, used the term "afterburn" to indicate the effect an atypical past event continues to exert on a person's daily schedule, activities and mental state even ''after'' it is over: to "those occasions when it disturbs normal patterns for an appreciable period, rather than being assimilated into them or excluded from them by repression and other psychological mechanisms". For Berne, afterburn is the flip side of reachback, which is the effect that the event, thanks to the stress of

anticipation Anticipation is an emotion involving pleasure or anxiety in considering or awaiting an expected event. Anticipatory emotions include fear, anxiety, hope and trust. When the anticipated event fails to occur, it results in disappointment (if posit ...

, has on the person's life ''before'' it. He considered that "in most cases one or the other can be tolerated without serious consequences. It can be dangerous for almost anyone, however, if the after-burn of the last event overlaps with the reach-back from the next ... this is a good definition of overwork".

Remedies

Berne considered that "dreaming is probably the normal mechanism for adjusting after-burn and reach-back",Berne, p. 267 but that sex and holidays were also useful remedies. "Most normal after-burns and reach-backs run their courses in about six days, so that a two-week vacation allows the superficial after-burns to burn out, after which there are a few days of carefree living. ...For the assimilation of more chronic after-burns and deeper, repressed reach-backs, however, a vacation of at least six weeks is probably necessary."

Other views

In terms of exam

stress management Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces num ...

, "afterburn is the time needed after the exam to... set it to rest", a period of "afterburn time...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

a host of unexpressed feelings and incomplete tasks". "Referring to soldiers recently returned from Iraq, Sara Corbett described this type of delayed reaction as 'psychological afterburn'... uoting soldiers who spoke of it to the effect of:'My body's here, but my mind is there.'" With respect to

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

, some consider that "you are not ending well when you find that you are thinking about the person's problems after sessions. This is called afterburn". Others however see opportunity in such occasions: "You're sorting out your

countertransference Countertransference is defined as redirection of a psychotherapist's feelings toward a client – or, more generally, as a therapist's emotional entanglement with a client. Early formulations The phenomenon of countertransference (german: G ...

, you're owning your

projection Projection, projections or projective may refer to: Physics * Projection (physics), the action/process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface to another in a different direction * The display of images by a projector Optics, graphic ...

s, you're separating out you from the family"—in short, one is usefully employing "those lagging emotions that afterburn following a session".

Goffman

Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born sociology, sociologist, Social psychology (sociology), social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth ...

has a related but rather different usage of the term "to refer to a ''sotto voce'' comment, one meant not to be a ratified part of an encounter, an afterburn ... a remonstrance conveyed collusively by virtue of the fact that its targets are in the process of leaving the field".Erving Goffman, ''Relations in Public'' (Penguin 1972) p. 214-5 and p. 187

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afterburn (Psychotherapy) Transactional analysis

Berne's formulation

Remedies

Other views

Goffman

See also

References