Psychoanalytic process is defined as the interaction between the psychoanalyst and the patient, primarily through the interplay of transference and resistance. Transference and resistance are understood as a unitary phenomenon that can be expressed either as an intrapsychic potential or as an interpersonal relationship.

One of the aims of psychoanalytic technique is to encourage, through interpretation, the expression of transference and resistance potential as an interpersonal relationship with the analyst. This promotes a fluidity of interchange between the intrapsychic and the interpersonal, leading to heightened interactions between analyst and patient. These interactions become a powerful tool to fully experience unconscious intrapsychic conflict and can be translated back into insight concerning intrapsychic conflict.