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When the analyst is not aware of how he has been pulled into an unconscious enactment, but continues to regard the therapeutic alliance and the setting as if it were working smoothly, he might also intervene from that unawareness. He may then interpret what is going on with the analysand in a way that indicates a “foreclosure”. That is, he will unconsciously try to finish the subject prematurely by an interpretation that will put a provisional end to the exploring process. Thereby, he will make what the author calls an inner frame break. Several vignettes are presented to illustrate derivatives of outer and inner frame breaks and how they are related to aversion of strong countertransference reactions connected to the unresolved life themes of the analyst himself. These vignettes are also discussed in relationship to Lang's concepts of frame breaks and derivatives. Finally, the concepts of inner frame breaks and unresolved life themes are discussed as signals and instruments of countertransference awareness and are related to case presentations in supervision and at psychoanalytic conferences.
Key words: frame - setting - countertransference - inner frame break - life history