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From the very beginning of treatment the analyst must avoid any attitudes which might alter the spontaneous development of the transference. This is best done by assuming an attitude of benevolent neutrality, listening carefully, and avoiding, as much as possible, asking questions or focusing particularly on any of the patient's productions. During this phase one of the main objectives is to prevent the patient's unconscious resistances and masochistic attitudes from overcoming his conscious desire to get well. In certain patients, who present somatic complaints and who feel the need for magical reassurance, Nacht is not averse to carrying out a physical examination in the course of the preliminary interview, which he believes may be useful in these cases. How Nacht reconciles this procedure with neutrality is not clear. Interpretations are kept on a superficial level and the therapist's main concern is to familiarize the patient with the analytical situation and to interest him in the mechanics of the unconscious in a manner least conducive to provoking an increase of the resistances. For this purpose it may be preferable to interpret by referring to general psychological phenomena rather than specifically to the patient himself.
In all cases, underlying the therapist's neutrality will be a deeper, sincere attitude characterized by what Nacht calls 'presence' and 'availability'. It is this attitude which decides not only the outcome of this particular phase of the treatment but of the analysis as a whole. Occasionally, an excessive neutrality on the part of the therapist may not be desirable. This is particularly true with overly passive patients, in whom passivity may thus be encouraged and increased, and the narcissistic characters who may interpret neutrality as either encouragement or rejection. Direct transference interpretations are withheld; when such interpretations are finally possible, the initial phase of the treatment is over.