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“Which story is one to tell?”.
This study opens with several clinical illustrations that I will use to bring my theoretical model to life and that will serve as a basis for the discussion of the crucial points of that model. I should start by saying that Pierloot (1987), who also drew on Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author, has suggested that the analyst be considered as an author capable of creating a meaningful story that integrates the patient's past and present. This is my point of departure, as I seek to show how the construction of such a story can take place in the here and now. The reversal of the title of Pirandello's work is the key to understanding the following pages: it is my aim to show how the minds of the analyst and patient work together to find ways and means of communication. Indeed, it is the characters of the session that reveal how the field functions (Baranger 1961-62; ) from the point of view of the patient (Bion 1983).