From symmetry to asymmetry.

An introduction is given on Matte Blanco's theory about symmetrical and asymmetrical thought processes and their correspondence with primary and secondary thought processes. The system unconscious is seen in terms of Matte Blanco's principles of symmetry and generalization and their implication in the absence of time, space and the differentiation between the whole and its parts. Clinical material from two cases of agoraphobia are shown as examples of a disturbance or absence of the concept of space in the unconscious and its translation into a symptomatology. The result of psychoanalysis of both cases and its implication is discussed.