Neglected Classics: Ernst Kris's "On Some Vicissitudes of Insight in Psychoanalysis"

At first glance it may seem surprising that I suggest regarding Ernst Kris's extraordinary paper, "On Some Vicissitudes of Insight in Psychoanalysis," as a neglected classic, since it is cited in the literature with considerable frequency. In my experience, the majority of references to it are for reasons that are quite peripheral to its central thesis. Authors often note a passage to be found in the introductory paragraphs in which Kris characterizes psychoanalysis as a process, although he meant by that no more than that psychoanalysis has a quality "of progressive development over time in a definite direction" (p. 253). Another reason analysts have for referring to the paper is that they recall that in it Kris describes what he calls "the good analytic hour," one in which many strands of the material seem to come together in an especially comprehensible and meaningful way. In fact, both of these ideas are presented by Kris merely as preparatory to the exploration of the problems that really interest him. These have to do with the nature of insight in psychoanalysis, the quality of the ego functions involved in acquiring insight, and some subtle difficulties that can affect the experience of obtaining insight in certain patients. His conclusions are by and large overlooked, even though they are derived from admirably astute and sophisticated clinical observations, and