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In his preface the author tells us that “The psychotherapeutic process cannot be hurried” (p. vii). He then encourages the reader to “approach this work in a therapeutic manner, at leisure, free from worry, demand, and prejudice as to the logic of the process” (p. vii) so that he or she may experience the book with “as much personal participation as temporary suspension of reality allows” (p. vii).
Strictly speaking, this is not a textbook of technique and it is not offered as such. Through the medium of verbatim case material, the author attempts to reconstruct and present the frame of mind of a psychotherapist at work. He aims to bring his clinical activity to life for us, to show us how it is shaped by theory and demonstrate how the theoretical frame is evoked and selected to meet specific clinical situations. The evolving doctor-patient relationship and its related transference/countertransference paradigm is a central theme of the book.
The reader then is invited to join the author, as therapist, in his consultation room, to follow his thinking and his experiences, and to listen as he tries to “find” (Havens, 1986, p. 11) his patients. We—you and I—are thereby to become immersed in the mood and atmosphere of the author's everyday work.
The world of the psychotherapist is not easily recreated. I followed the author's advice. I read the book at leisure, put it aside, from time to time reread sections, thought about it, and thought about my own clinical work.
A patient was recalled. I had wanted to make a point to the patient and started to speak, saying, “In the final analysis…,” but before I could complete what I had to say, the patient erupted, “I certainly hope that's what this is!” The patient