Toward A Definition Of The Term And Concept Of Interaction

The topic of interaction in the clinical psychoanalytic situation has never before been addressed directly by a panel at the American Psychoanalytic Association. The format, clearly and effectively introduced by chair Melvin Bornstein, consisted of three papers in the morning, those of Evelyne Schwaber, Joseph Sandler, and Jerome Oremland, which were then discussed by Arnold Richards. After the formal presentations, the panel attempted to interact with the audience. The format was repeated in the afternoon with papers by Dale Boesky, Jay Greenberg, and Arnold Goldberg.

With the exception of Greenberg, whose clinical vignette anchored his discussion of theoretical, technical, and semantic aspects of the topic and was referred to often by other panelists, clinical material was in too short supply. In spite of this, the panel managed to convey the similarities and differences of its members' points of view.

Bornstein, who conceived, organized, and moderated the panel, seized everyone's attention by stating that everything in psychoanalysis can be reduced to interaction. Major concepts, formulations, models, and strategies, he asserted, are derived from the interaction between analyst and patient in the analytic relationship. The profound psychic experiences of patient and analyst are the result of their mutual interaction, the humanistic core of psychoanalysis.

But the meaning of interaction in psychoanalysis remains ambiguous and controversial. The term, which does not appear in Freud's work at all, emerged only in the literature of the forties with reference to the interpersonal dimension, which