Reassurance in Analytic Therapy

At a recent meeting of a professional mental health staff of a large New York hospital, the subject of reassurance of acutely distressed patients was broached. As reported to me, it was summarily dismissed in a casual comment by the guest lecturer without objection from the staff. The message was: Explain that there is nothing to be worried about; everything will be okay. This just-say-no approach to the turbulence that afflicts our patients reminded me, by way of contrast, of Alexander Reid Martin's (1949) paper, “Reassurance in Therapy” (Ingram, 1977). This paper by a much-admired teacher and clinical supervisor was an eye-opener when I was first referred to it over 20 years ago. It addresses a question that concerns all clinicians, particularly analytic psychotherapists. For me, in those days, Martin's paper provided clear practical clinical assistance. In certain ways, his paper indicates how anxiety, defensive strategies, unconscious process, and technique were broadly conceived within the psychoanalytic community of his time. On the heels of what seemed like a rueful disposal of a matter that is immediately pertinent to psychotherapy, it seemed useful to remind myself and my colleagues of the wisdom contained in Martin's essay.

A second impetus for my attempting this paper-—and I realized this only later—was to see how my own perspectives on analytic therapy, which partly reflect contemporary shifts within our profession, have changed over the score years since Martin's work came to my attention. Martin had written his paper nearly 50 years ago. I am reaching back, here, through my own early experience of Martin's work to his own time and to his ideas, not solely to my own later admiration and incorporation of them into my clinical work.

A third impetus is more personal. In undertaking this exercise, I am aware of seeking to recapture another time, to render the past present. By detailing the ways in which my views have evolved, I erase that evolutionary