1.2 Survey of Basic Concepts: Theoretical Concepts Essential for Technique

Before we can proceed to a more thorough and systematic examination of therapeutic procedures and processes, it would be well to review briefly some of the basic theoretical concepts of the psychoanalytic point of view. There is a reciprocal relationship between theory and practice. Clinical findings can lead to new theoretical formulations, which in turn can sharpen one's perceptiveness and technique so that new clinical insights may be obtained. The reverse is also true. Faulty technique can lead to distortions in the clinical findings, which in turn can lead to faulty theoretical concepts. Whenever there is a lack of integration between theory and technique, both aspects are likely to suffer (Hartmann, 1951, p. 143). For example, one can deal with a resistance more effectively if one is aware of the multiple functions of resistance, its relationship

to defenses in general, as well as its purpose in a particular instance.

There are analysts who tend to isolate their practical from their theoretical knowledge. Some do it by drifting along with the patient until some fragment of the patient's material becomes understandable and is then unselectively communicated to the patient. They misuse the notion that it is the analyst's unconscious mind and empathy which are his most important tools for therapy, and they ignore the need to do some intellectual work with the data they may have obtained. As a consequence there is no overall view of the patient, no reconstructions of larger segments of the patient's life, there are just collections of insights. Errors in the other direction are equally serious; there are analysts who too quickly formulate theories on the basis of skimpy clinical data. For them, the experience of analysis becomes a thinking contest or an intellectual exercise. Such analysts avoid instinctual or emotional involvement with their patients, they forego intuition and empathy and become data collectors or in