2. Some Therapeutic and Anti-Therapeutic Factors in the Functioning of the Analyst

As the analyst's capacity to function is mainly expressed by his ability to convey understanding through the way he gives interpretations and what he selects for interpretation, one may say that the patient's feeling of being accepted and cared for depends to a large extent on the interpretative function of the analyst. Like others, I have found that patients respond to our interpretations not only as tools which make them aware of the meaning of the unconscious and conscious processes, but also as reflections of the analyst's state of mind (Segal 1962a, Loewald 1970, Langs 1976, Sandler 1976) – particularly his capacity to retain quietness and peacefulness and to focus on the central aspects of the patient's conscious and unconscious preoccupations and anxieties. The patient is also aware of the analyst's mind and memory through the way he holds together important external and internal factors and brings them together at the right time. The analyst's state of mind, his capacity to function well, is an essential therapeutic factor in analytic therapy. It plays an important part in the introjective processes, increasing the patient's capacity for object relations and strengthening his ego in its functions and in its capacity for integration and particularly for mental growth.

I indicated in Chapter 1 my belief that the principal therapeutic function of a psychoanalyst is to help the patient put into words and conscious thoughts the unconscious feelings and wishful phantasies which preoccupy him. In this way the patient's repetitions of early object relations and the omnipotent defences built up in the infantile period can be modified. Gradually, the patient can tolerate more feelings (and particularly the anxiety they provoke), recognize conflicts, and become able to think about them. As this becomes