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November 13, 1956. ON SOME VICISSITUDES OF INSIGHT IN PSYCHOANALYSIS. Ernst Kris, Ph.D.
Before proceeding to a detailed discussion of the specific problems presented in his paper, Dr. Kris first describes what he considers a distinct property of psychoanalysis: its character as a process with a progressive development over time in a definite direction; second, the twin character of theory and technique since the inception of Freud's work. The former constitutes the core of psychoanalysis, its therapeutic effectiveness and investigative value; the latter, through the interaction of theory and technique, constitutes the history of psychoanalysis. Dr. Kris then notes the special emphasis and increasing importance accorded the integrative (synthetic) functions of the ego in current psychoanalytic literature. As an illustration for the development of his topic, he chooses the 'good analytic hour' of which he says: 'Such an hour often does not begin propitiously but comes gradually into its own after ten or fifteen minutes with the recounting of a recent experience, connected or not with the previous session; then may come a dream with associations, and all begins to make sense. Sometimes memories from the recent or distant past, with varying degrees of affective charge, and often all that the analyst may have to say can be put into a question to which the patient does the summing up and arrives himself at the conclusions. Such hours seem as if