Clinical Significance and Development of the Cyborg Image

Formation of Subjectivity in Liminality

Abstract

This paper examines clinical interviews with a male client, A, who initially sought a diagnosis of developmental disorder, and explores the cyborg image that became central to the therapeutic process. At his first visit, A requested the diagnosis as a way to validate the unfair evaluations and unreasonable experiences he had endured. After receiving the diagnosis, he set out on a new path without telling anyone and discontinued therapy. Ten years later, upon returning, A confessed his admiration for cyborgs and began appearing in sessions dressed in a cyborg suit and high socks. At first, this was an attempt to reinforce his weaker self by adding abilities. Yet the cyborg image dismantled the framework that attributed problems solely to A as an individual subject, enabling the emergence of a hybrid subject at the intersection with others and the environment, and ultimately guiding A toward a path of individuation.