The modalities of the mechanism of defense that the patient uses when confronted with anxiety produced in the transference neurosis in a prolonged analytic treatment are studied. Emphasis is primarily on the content, form, dosage, and opportunity of interpretation. In essence, they deal with the 'basic unit' of the analytic situation; i.e., the handling of the unconscious fantasy, the way it is expressed in free association and the countertransference.

The authors emphasize three aspects: 1, a methodological approach—comparison of two different sessions to look for similarities, discrepancies, etc., in the material as a means of evaluating the patient's changes during analysis; 2, research and study of what the patient says; and 3, objectivity in evaluating the rupture of the defensive emotional frigidity through detailed study of the increase in information interchanged between patient and analyst.