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This very interesting clinical material prepared by our colleague Georg Bruns stirred up some reflections in me that I hope will be as dreams (in the sense described by Bion, 1962).1 That is, I hope that these dreams can serve as a series of images and ideas where I try to symbolize my emotional experiences in words. The aspects that most caught my attention in this material were the difficulties that all analysts face, namely happenings related to the complex narcissistic configurations that protect the patient and the analytic pair from traumatic contact with triangular reality.
I would like to start off with the first session, recounted by Bruns as a model for the entire analytic process. Ellen's sequence of actions before going into the analyst's office, the way she talked about it in the session, and the analyst's feelings and interventions show the styles of both Ellen and the analyst, as well as the work of the analytic pair. I suggest we make this style an invariant that can continue as a background during the entire analytic process. We might remember Buffon's statement to the effect that: ‘The style is the man himself.’
Let us imagine the first scene as if it were a performance in mimicry or a silent movie. Ellen arrives at Georg's office. Her hair gives her an air of youth as she stands in the hall by the door of his office. She looks at her watch and hesitates. She seems not to know whether she should stay in the hall or ring the doorbell. She decides to stay in the hall, but remains very quiet, trying hard not to make any noise at all. She looks at her watch again and suddenly has a coughing spell. She seems embarrassed and tries to make as little noise as possible, and unsurely slips a cough-drop into her mouth. She continues to be quiet but listens attentively as a telephone rings on the other side of the door. Someone answers it and Ellen seems hesitant. She is not sure whether or not she wants to listen to the conversation. She gets closer to the door