You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Freud originally felt that working through was a gradual abreaction concomitant with the development of insight as resistances slowly broke down under interpretation. Later, with the formation of the structural theory, working through was more completely considered as due to the existence of five kinds of resistances—three from the ego and one each from the id and the superego. The author discusses the id aspects. After insight is gained, the repetition compulsion, based on inborn characteristics and infantile experiences of a traumatic nature, has to be overcome. (The repetition compulsion is the least influenced by insight.) Learning theory, with its emphasis on reward as an effective conditioner of learning, has something to contribute to the id aspects of working through. The affective, anxiety-producing, repetitive experiences of childhood have to be undone in similar fashion by endless repetition of interpretation and relearning. This must be experienced in an atmosphere of reward. In line with learning theory, the affectional, cue, and reward aspects of the transference situation throw additional light on the need for time. Normal characterological defenses have to replace the pathological before reward is experienced. This process takes time and may depend on cues which are often not identified by either partner in the therapeutic situation.