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Loewenstein reconsiders free association in psychoanalysis in the light of ego psychology. Resistances are no longer seen only as obstacles to free association but rather, with Freud, as the inevitable result of unconscious psychic conflict which must be analyzed. The associations are determined by the ego and superego, not just by the id. The consequent limitations on compliance with the basic rule are recognized. Free association is interfered with not only by resistances from all three divisions of the mental apparatus but by intra- as well as interpsychic conflict. Not all resistances, however, disturb free association and, contrary to Freud, not all obstacles to free association and analysis are caused by resistance.
The analysis, with its curtailment of action and external perception, facilitates free association. The latter requires partial and temporary suspension of selected autonomous ego functions which ultimately must be exercised again by the patient for reflection and insight. During the time of their suspension, the analyst temporarily takes over these ego functions. This, together with the tolerance for intense, ungratified transferences, requires a positive therapeutic alliance between the patient's weak ego and the analyst. The prototype for this alliance is in the trusting mother-child relationship.