On the Resistance Situation: The Patient is Silent*

Preface. The situation “the patient is silent” is one of the frequent phases of resistance in analysis. It is therefore surprising that there is little treatment of the subject in our literature. Doubtless every practicing analyst has gathered a fund of experience on this subject—as he frequently has to contend with the situation—and has formed conclusions as to the significance of this behavior on the part of the patient. In connection with a report which I gave seven years ago at the round table of the clinic of the Viennese Psychoanalytic Association on a case of anxiety hysteria, where the chief weapon of the resistance was silence, I proposed this subject for discussion, and a good many colleagues took part in the same. One, Dr. Wittels, wished to publish the results of the discussion in all our names. As is so common with such good intentions, the plan was never carried out, the contributions to the discussion were forgotten, and are now beyond recall. The priority rights on the basis of the discussion at that time are therefore impossible to determine but in this case it is of no moment, inasmuch as it is a question of typical experiences, which every one of us has had. Miss Anna Freud prompted the reopening of the subject at our round table at this time—March 1935—and I undertook to contribute the opening discussion, which is reproduced in the following.

General Part. The very statement of the problem begins with a difficulty. In the outside world, silence has a double meaning: it is just as likely to be the sign of hatred as of love. This “Janus countenance of silence” (Reik) is little known: silence is generally considered in the outside world as the sign of “displeasure”. It is an interesting problem as to why the second meaning of silence—that of agreement and love—receives so little notice. Reik, in his delightful study, “The Psychological Meaning of Silence”1 which does not touch upon technical problems, was the first to call attention to