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Perception is the basic function of the ego, and the foundation on which all contact with the outer world is built. Perception in analysis is the prime mover effecting reconciliation of disparate, repressed, and conflicting elements of the patient's personality. In analysis the patient's ego learns to perceive in a new fashion.
The specific instrument of analytic therapy, in contrast to other forms of therapy, is the transference interpretation on the basis of which the patient's perception acquires a new quality. Heimann believes that differences in analytic technique are caused by differences in degree of the analyst's appreciation of the role of unconscious fantasies in mental life and in the transference. Unconscious fantasy is the fertile matrix that determines motivation, behavior in and out of the transference, and readiness to utilize interpretation; but these fantasies must be made conscious. Only transference interpretation achieves the desired change in the patient's ego, and such interpretations constitute the answer to the question the analyst must constantly ask himself: why is the patient now doing what to whom?