The Problem of the Bad-Analyst Feeling

As a patient, an analyst, a supervisor and supervisee, I never consciously want to have the bad-analyst feeling. I don't want to think of my analyst(s) and supervisors as bad, nor do I want to be thought of as a bad analyst/supervisor by those that work with me. Most of all, I don't want to think of myself as a bad analyst— not ever. It arouses feelings of failure, fraud, incompetence and downright stupidity. Of course none of us aspires to that. Epstein in his paper explains why these feelings are inevitable, necessary and valuable when working with preverbal patients.

Spotnitz (1985) says that negative feelings when turned inward rather than appropriately put into words make us susceptible to a broad continuum of mental health issues and illnesses. Throughout his writings he provides myriad examples of the clinical efficacy of the analyst's appropriate use of such feelings, along with techniques in which to apply them. Epstein, in this paper, describes some of the specific reactions analysts can experience when they are flooded with the patient's “bad” feelings, and consequently become stuck, as they unconsciously direct those unverbalized feelings toward themselves, erroneously believing them to be entirely subjective. Epstein says about the patient, “The less conscious he is of his feelings the more covert his attack” (p. 36). Without supervision it can become nearly impossible for analysts