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.
It is a great pleasure and an honor to be asked to write a discussion of Stephen D. Purcell's evocative article, “Becoming Related: The Education of a Psychoanalyst.” His rich memories and reflections offer us a peek into the personal and emotional experiences that helped shape him as a person and, ultimately, as an analyst. It is a beautifully written reminder that unconscious relational tracks are often laid down very early in our clinical experiences and can prompt new intrapsychic awakenings.
Dr. Purcell's memoir made me wonder what experiences inspire a person to become a psychoanalyst and what encounters shape that path. I also appreciate his perspective that universal, standardized techniques in psychoanalysis are a fallacy because, as he demonstrates in his memoir, the starting place for each analyst is highly unique.
In this discussion, I look further into Purcell's description of his relationship to Sybil, the head nurse on the unit where he worked, and the central importance of strong supervisory experiences in analytic training. I then offer an alternative perspective on analytic stance: one that cycles between emotional, intuitive involvement and the use of theory and intellectual thought. Using relevant theory, I describe how this cycle manifests in the analytic couple across several overlapping dimensions: omnipotent and impotent extremes in the countertransference,