Semi-structured interviews in psychoanalytic research: a wager on the emergence of the subject of the unconscious

Abstract

Research in psychoanalysis originates with Freud’s discovery of the unconscious, which established free association and the case study as fundamental devices that intrinsically connect treatment and investigation. This article aims to examine the relevance of semi-structured interviews in psychoanalytically oriented research. To this end, a bibliographic review was conducted on the research methods employed by Freud and later developed by Lacan, as well as on contemporary works discussing the articulation between semi-structured interviews and psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic theory advances through the singularity of each case, which simultaneously challenges and enriches the theoretical corpus. By positing that the unconscious is structured like a language, Lacan introduced topological tools that formalize the theory, shifting psychoanalytic knowledge beyond the interpretation of meanings toward the logical structures governing the subject’s discourse. In this context, the transmission of psychoanalytic knowledge through the medium of the scientific article presents significant methodological challenges. A tension emerges between the specificity of psychoanalytic methodology and the requirements of research ethics committees, particularly in the Brazilian context. Ethical standards such as informed consent and confidentiality pose obstacles to the publication of clinical cases, a central method in psychoanalysis. As a possible alternative within the current academic framework, this article suggests the use of semi-structured interviews, which grant access to the participant’s speech while preserving psychoanalytic ethics and sustaining the commitment to theoretical advancement through the emergence of the subject of the unconscious and the pluralization of forms of enunciation.