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1To begin with the scope of these two writings, they would appear as quite distinct. The first, a piece of straightforward technical writing, dealing in detail with the analytical situation, the second aims far beyond that. The latter can duly be categorized as “applied psychoanalysis”. If placed side-by-side, they may, however, bear witness to the breadth of Freud’s oeuvre.
In this way, we are introduced to two different fields. And we should take note that, even if Freud must have felt more at home when writing On beginning the treatment, carrying it through to an end was postponed again and again. As is implied by the subtitle, this work is part of a series of what later was to be called Freud’s technical papers. Altogether they constitute 6 papers published between 1911 and 1915, the one which we focus on here being the third in the series.
What was it that made Freud doubt, causing him to put it aside on several occasions? This question stands out on the background of the relatively few technical papers that were to be published later on in Freud’s authorship. It appears even more odd when we note the range of important topics Freud actually covers in the course of this article. Various considerations concerning the beginning of treatment are presented. Why one must start with a trial period, and furthermore, how preliminary discussions before beginning the treatment, can prove disadvantageous.
The historical background for the psychoanalytic session, the use of the couch, is depicted as well as some reasons for maintaining it – “I cannot put up with being stared at by other people for 8 hours a day.” On the matter of what the patient is expected to do, Freud recounts the famous image of a traveller sitting next to the window of a railway carriage and describing to someone inside the carriage the changing views which he sees outside.
What if we ourselves were made the object of an analytic investigatio