This paper discusses the articulation between two highly relevant issues in the process of therapeutic change, namely, awareness and the analyst-patient relationship. Do we think today, as did Freud, that awareness is the major tool for change and the primary aim of interpretation? The author answers that while it still plays a key role, awareness is not the only tool - there are others just as important. Neither does it act on its own. Even when an interpretation is accurate, its success depends on the patient's relationship with the analyst. This relationship is not just like any intersubjective relationship; we cannot spontaneously show the unstable person “that we are analysts in our personal life.” It is a “professional” relationship (Winnicott, 1960, p. 194) that is “structurally asymmetrical” (Baranger, 1992).

On this professional basis, we should keep in mind that analysts need to make constant adjustments to their relationship with their patients. For instance, adolescents will only listen to their analyst if they feel that he or she shares their codes. Focusing on the analyst's attitude, the author discusses adjustments that become necessary in these unique but always present situations. This attitude must facilitate the transference and promote the best possible way of internalizing the awareness sought by psychoanalysis.