March 1, 1994

Drs. Spence, Mayes, and Dahl (1994) introduce their thoughtful and careful study on the monitoring of the analytic surface with reference to my earlier paper (Poland, 1992) in which I relate the analytic surface to analytic space. The authors state, "To make an interpretation, the analyst must choose to enter the analytic space" (p. 44). Later (pp. 46–47), they say, "We have noted that Poland suggests that the analyst is always monitoring the surface for clues that tell him when it is safe to speak and/or safe to interpret. If we extend the concept of surface