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Whatever the form of psychotherapy—supportive, directive, educative or psychodynamic—and the degree of intended psychic restructuring, the process is a teaching and learning experience, and affects both patient and therapist. In the years that psychotherapy has been practiced as an applied science and art, many methods have been tried to shorten the duration of treatment.
Inevitable obstacles impede this form of personal learning. These resistances are used to maintain the psychic defenses the individual needs for emotional homeostatic equilibrium. Whatever the frequency of psychotherapy sessions, differing degrees of amnesia affecting the cognitive and emotional contents invariably occur. This “inter-session” amnesia hinders the connection of thoughts, memories and feelings. When unconscious determinants emerge and their pathogenic links are discovered and remembered, the maladaptive patterns that have blocked healthy growth are modified. Attempting to diminish the repression of content from the previous session, I instituted the recording technique described in this paper.
For many years, audio tapes have been used to research the therapeutic process, to enhance the supervisory experience, and, on occasion, to promote therapeutic effect. For the most part, the literature has demonstrated the professional, educational and research values of the playback process. Several papers on the uses of audiotapes in therapy have been published, but do not seem to have generated widespread interest [Bierer and Strom-Olsen (1948), Geocaris (1960), Abell (1963), and Barcai (1967)]. In recent years, there have been very few reports of this methodology in therapy [Bailey (1970), Bailey and Sowder (1970), Shery (1976), and Elliot ]. I recall no comments from colleagues about the therapeutic use of audiotapes.