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Putting myself in the place of the patient rather than that of the analyst, I would like to stress the aspect of analytic work which I consider essential, from the setting up of transference to the resolution of the transference neurosis and beyond, namely the confrontation which continuously takes place in the patient's mind between his fantasies of the analyst at a given moment and the analyst's reality in his analytic practice.
This confrontation of fantasy and reality does not seem to me to be simply a moment in the analysis but accompanies the patient throughout the analytic journey.
Analysis is an experience which takes place outside the patient's real life; it is an adventure which constitutes an enclave in his daily life. Based on a fantasy relationship with the analyst, it may, however, as we give importance to the internal reality, be considered more real than reality. At any rate, especially at the height of the transference neurosis, it is likely to be more real to the patient than his actual life.
The analyst is perceived through these fantasies. Following Klein, Isaacs (1948) showed that gradually the analyst's personality, attitudes and intentions, as well as the sexual aspects of him, are perceived differently by the patient as he undergoes internal transformations. I think that one should add that the analyst's interpretations are also perceived differently by the patient as his inner world develops. When the transference is well established, the patient–analyst relationship is based entirely on unconscious fantasy.
We can nowhere better than in analysis discover that fantasies represent the psychic expression of instinct. The slightest gestures of the analyst, whether he speaks or keeps silent, smiles, smokes or remains still: all these aspects are interpreted with respect to the patient's wishes.
An obsessional patient who endeavoured to deny his transference feelings towards the analyst had on several occas