Psychoanalysis has evolved well beyond the concept of the selfless analyst, who on theoretical grounds had to remain neutral, authoritarian, and withholding. This neutrality required the therapist to attempt to be emotionally uninvolved, thereby offering the patient a blank screen on which to project his or her inner world. In practice, this often led to the emotional unavailability of the analyst.

In sharp contrast, the current literature is replete with emphasis on the paramount importance of the analyst's human presence and participation in the interpretative process and nonverbal therapeutic engagement. The term authentic has been used to describe the overt expression of the therapist's distinct subjective experience. This type of sharing has been contrasted with working in the interpretive mode, where a primary emphasis is placed on achieving an in-depth, empathic