Further Uses of the Analyzing Instrument

The patient is a 39-year-old married woman who sought analysis because of depression, dissatisfaction with her marriage, and an eating disorder which consisted of periods of binge eating alternating with abortive attempts at severe dieting. She has, on occasion, been able to lose weight, become quite attractive, and enter a serious love relationship, only to promptly gain the weight back.

Of particular note in her history was the onset of menses at the age of 8 ½. She was devastated by this event, experiencing it as horrible and dirty and best kept secret. Things were made worse for her by the family physician who reassured her that it was quite common for a girl to have an early period and then not get another for years, and he was sure this would be the case with her. When, in fact, the physician was proved wrong, she was extremely upset. Her fastidious housekeeper told her she must hide her soiled panties and not tell anyone. Her depressed mother also saw menses as shameful.

One other childhood memory relevant to the session to be reported is a vivid recollection of seeing her father's bulging bluish erection. She hasn't been able to accurately date this memory.

The session to be presented occurred in the second year of analysis. The analytic work had allowed the development of an erotic transference which had been vigorously warded off. The patient had exhibited a specific piece of behavior in the analysis from the very beginning which had been frequently explored but never understood or modified. She would need to sit up on the couch several times in a session. Just before sitting up she would become quite anxious and report that she was feeling a heavy weight on her chest which she always interpreted as the result of her being too fat. These episodes of sitting up frequently occurred following an eating binge.

She began the session by announcing that she was going to become