The Analyst’s Role In The Disruption And Repair Sequence In Psychoanalysis

DISRUPTIONS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC WORK go by many names, depending on the theory and the alleged source of the problem. Transferences originate within the analysand and may shatter cooperative engagement with the analyst. Problematic countertransferences are contributed by the analyst, as a reflection of projective identification orchestrated by the patient or of the analyst’s transferences. Unsettling enacted unconscious scenarios originate primarily in the analyst, analysand, or both. An intersubjective perspective has each partner influencing and deflecting the other. Their individual contributions are inseparable. A point of view that emphasizes discontinuity in experience substitutes dissociation for repression. The analyst represents a way of being that is foreign to the patient’s sense of self. The analyst may be invested with dissociated aspects of the analysand’s self. In either case, the analysand assiduously resists joining with the analyst.

The point is that disruptions are complex events with hard-to-separate contributions by analyst and analysand. My impression is that most disruptions in psychoanalysis are resolved spontaneously with little or no analytic exploration. Often this process is unnoticed and unacknowledged. It occurs through subtle interactions, and it hardly matters how analytical and dispassionate the analyst attempts to be.

In this article I argue that the facilitating activity that characterizes these subtle realignments should be part of analytic technique. Being helpful and concerned is not antianalytic. When the analyst accepts this role (at times, the analysand takes the initiative), the analysand is likely to feel safer, better understood, and cared about. The result, barring paradoxical neurotic developments, will be to reinforce the analysand’s confidence that the analysis is on track. Rather than being discouraged from reengaging in analytic exploration, the analysand is more likely to undertake it.