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I quite agree with Dr Baranger (1974) as to the difficulty in finding an adequate theoretical definition for negative therapeutic reaction. From the development itself of the psychoanalytical technique, we infer that this type of reaction could occur in any and every patient. It is very important to remember (as I have already pointed out in my Congress paper (1974)) that this type of resistance, as all other mental phenomenon, is multidetermined. For this reason I prefer to call this case a peculiar form of resistance, although in my understanding, based on the patients' clinical features, I would have considered it as a case of negative therapeutic reaction.
Another point which I consider of fundamental importance in Dr Baranger's discussion (and I had stressed this in my paper) is the reference 'to the fact of considering the analytical situation and process in light of a bi-personal phenomenon'. I am sure that when the analyst is able to permit himself to be a container for the patient's aggressive and destructive contents, working over them with persistence and patience, both of them understanding their development, he functions as an aid to the patient's insight and progress, although sometimes this constitutes a very slow process. It is also true that the analyst himself is liable to project aggressive aspects on to the patient, thus opening up great resistance to analysis— but that is a different problem!
Dr Baranger continues, 'it is necessary to determine which forms of envy and which types of narcissistic organization are apt to produce a negative therapeutic reaction'. This is the principal point of my paper, greatly condensed to comply with the Congress regulations.
In my view, that which makes an individual himself and not another; that which distinguishes one person from the infinity of others, is precisely this quality. This quality (different aspects of personality and behaviour being understood) can manifest itself in different qualities. But