Silence is as much a part of the analytic situation as speech; Anavitarte compares it with gestures and mannerisms to which it is sometimes equivalent. The transference and countertransference fantasies and feelings of several silent

patients revealed that to them immobility was a denial of hostility; they had fears of loss of object love, words and thoughts were magical and dangerous. Words are a means of 'getting closer' and so are feared, or they are equivalent to acting out—'an acting out gesture' to do away with unconscious ideas. Silence may also be an attempt to prolong a nonverbal relationship like that of mother and child. There are also 'silences with no meaning'. The countertransference fantasies of the analyst in such moments are the clue to interpretation.