You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In recent decades, there has been a true revolution in psychoanalytical thought and practice, and the extent of this revolution becomes apparent if we look at certain end results. I am referring to the increasing attention given, alongside intrapsychic mechanisms, the traditional domain of psychoanalysis, to the relational aspects of the patient-analyst situation This attention is more noticeable in clinical practice than in theoretical writings.
It might seem, then, that the problem has been dealt with at the practical level (Bordi 1992). By asking themselves the question, “What is going on now?” ever more frequently, analysts bear witness to a change of perspective in their observations, and a focus on the interpersonal relationship (Sandler J., cit.: Thoma and Kachele 1985). This has led me to examine the psychoanalytic literature in order to trace the origins of this evolution in theory, as well as to identify those inconsistencies where a relational point of view co-exists with other approaches incompatible with it.
The work of evaluating the various transformations taking place is further complicated by the tendency of analysts to place