Neutrality and Subjectivity in the Therapeutic Relationship

(Accepted for publication 25 April 2018)

Neutrality and subjectivity represent notions that seem contradictory in the analytic process, with further clarification and integration, both conceptually and clinically, being required. In a relational context, neutrality should be regarded as a tendency towards balance between safety and danger, the equidistance between the three impulse-Ego-Superego instances, and not as indifference or inactivity. In a broad sense, neutrality means to keep countertransference under control and not to impose values, as well as the non-judgemental willingness to listen and learn. The analyst's ability to remain unbiased is inevitably limited, as the object of our investigation — the patient's psyche — cannot be perceived as isolated, uncontaminated by the instrument of analysis, which is the analyst's mind itself. Analytic activity, including the manner in which the therapist listens and makes punctual technical decisions, is influenced by the psychological individuality and subjectivity of the analyst. Inter-subjectivity relates to the developmentally-acquired capacity to recognize the other person as a separate centre of subjective experience, to attribute an inner state-of-mind to others. The analyst's subjectivity is important, and the manner in which the patient perceives it must be acknowledged. Exploring the patient's perception of the analyst's subjectivity is a major element involved in transference analysis.