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An attempt is made to describe briefly the role played in psychoanalytic technique by primary and secondary autonomous ego functions, concepts introduced and developed by Hartmann. The analytic process takes place mainly within the autonomous ego. The method of free association hinges upon a variety of autonomous functions. Under the regressive pull of drives and defenses, however, some of these may become reinstinctualized so as to act in the service of resistances (e.g., intellectualization). Intersystemic conflicts between drive derivatives and defenses are complicated by intrasystemic conflicts within the ego and even between different autonomous functions. The study of ego autonomy has added new perspectives to our understanding of the human mind; e.g., the nonconflictual counterpart of conflict, the observation of speech in psychoanalysis.
Hartmann approached psychoanalytic technique from the side of theory. Compared to the descriptive approach, 'good' theory has the advantage of brevity as well as of applicability to a larger variety of clinical situations. To think in terms of autonomy versus conflict-laden phenomena allows a better grasp of the problem how patients learn through analysis. By identifying with the analyst's functioning rather than with his person, they achieve autonomous self-understanding as opposed to transference-laden imitation.