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How many “techniques” (n. 1)† are now being advocated or applied (n. 2) by American psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and psychotherapists (n. 3)? No one knows for certain. A quick survey of the literature reveals that the estimates have varied widely, from two to more than two hundred, according to the perspectives and purposes of the score.8,16,36,67,91,101,104 The count might be much higher, indeed, if the list were expanded to include many varieties of techniques associated with places and times other than our own: Western Europe, Latin America, the Far East and Near East, the preliterate era, pre-Christian civilizations, peasant societies.50,77
In the absence of a comprehensive inventory of psychotherapeutic procedures, one must be skeptical of any efforts to offer a final account of the role(s) of the psychotherapist.1,53,86,89,98 No such attempt will therefore be made in the present paper. Instead, we shall call attention here to only one aspect of the psychotherapist's “role-set”;63 one which has been neglected in recent European and American discussions, despite the notable recognition given to it in previous ages and everywhere else in the world. I refer to what I shall be calling