Language in the Analytic Hour: Clinical Discussion of Harris, Kirshner, and Spivak

The papers in this section address the question “How does talking cure?” Each paper, on its own, presents a complex, nuanced exploration, and it would be impossible in a brief discussion to do justice both to the intricacy and sophistication of the material and to its applicability to clinical practice. I will limit myself, therefore, to a simpler task: applying a central idea from each author to a clinical vignette of my own, with the aim of highlighting the clinical relevance and utility of the idea. I will also point out an area of theoretical disagreement between two of the authors and briefly discuss the clinical implications of this disagreement.

Early in her analysis, Jennifer, a woman in her late twenties, related the following incident. As an anxious young child, Jennifer often turned to her mother, with whom she had a loving relationship, for reassurance to allay a wide range of anxieties. Although her mother was usually able to comfort her, at times she became overwhelmed by her daughter's fears and demands. At the age of six Jennifer needed to have her tonsils removed. Terrified at the prospect, she repeatedly begged not to be subjected to the procedure. Her mother initially tried to reassure her that she would be fine but eventually lost patience and blurted out, “Oh, for heaven's sake, it's just a tonsillectomy!” Jennifer's fear of the procedure was compounded by her recognition that her mother, in this instance, could not handle her daughter's anxiety and demands for reassurance.