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Alexander begins by tracing the development of psychiatry from its beginnings
as a common-sense, intuitive art to its present position as a science based upon knowledge of human illness. 'Psychiatry is not only ready but eager to assimilate in an undiluted form the teachings of Freud … it became our responsibility to guide and facilitate this process of incorporation.' The logic of psychoanalysis will lead to 'the absorption of psychoanalytic theory and practice into psychiatry and medicine in the not too distant future'. Alexander divides psychotherapy into two categories, the supportive and the uncovering procedures. All uncovering procedures are aimed at increasing the ability of the ego to meet unconscious conflict, while supportive procedures are aimed at meeting acute stress. He enumerates five supportive measures: gratifying dependency needs; abreaction; objectively reviewing the stress, thus assisting the patient's temporarily impaired judgment; strengthening the neurotic defenses; and manipulation of the patient's situation. From the beginning of treatment the formation of a regressive dependent transference must be controlled by keeping the patient aware of his wishes for dependency by frustration of them. This cannot be achieved by interpretation alone. These procedures make it possible to treat many patients who would otherwise fall into the category of 'interminable cases'. It is emphasized that the use of such measures requires as much technical and theoretical preparation as psychoanalysis. The classical psychoanalytic method is differentiated from other uncovering procedures mainly in 'quantitative respects',—that is, the criterion is whether the procedural method is primarily supportive or uncovering. The method should be selected to fit the patient, not the patient to fit the method. 'Psychoanalytic' should be used to identify all procedures using the same concepts, observations, and technical principles as psychoanalysis, while 'psy