Several cases are used to exemplify some of the common technical and theoretical

problems posed by the silent patient. Central to his handling of these problems is Enelow's view of silence, not as an interruption of psychoanalytic communication but as a form of communication like every other aspect of the patient's nonverbal behavior. Nonverbal behavior often reveals more than apparent free verbalization. Enelow's technique seems to consist of his frustrating, by his own verbal and nonverbal behavior, the patient's attempts to involve him in a sadomasochistic interaction. The frustration of sadomasochistic gratification appears to be a precondition for the relinquishing of silence and other forms of acting out in the analysis. The views of other writers are briefly reviewed.