The analyst’s contribution toward creating favorable conditions for change is a special object of our interest. It seems obvious that we should choose examples from the initial phase of therapy as it is in this phase that the patient attempts to come to terms with the strange and unsettling situation. The patient’s hopes that analysis will help him become better able to cope with the problems in his life are nourished by the experiences he has in the analytic situation.

In providing interpretations the psychoanalyst fulfills his professional role as well as goes beyond it. The language he uses in an interpretative comment reveals his thoughts—and his self as well—even if the comment is restricted to a patient’s minute, detailed problem and although he may believe he has completely withdrawn his personal views. (63 pgs)

We focus on the regulatory function that resistance fulfills in the relationship. (57 pgs)

We regard the initial interview as the first opportunity for the psychoanalytic method to be adapted to the particular circumstances of the individual patient. The first encounters carry a heavy burden of responsibility. The information which must be gained in just a few meetings will be incomplete and unreliable. (63 pgs)

The meaning of rules derives from their interpersonal acceptance. In fact, one important function of rules is to enable an intersubjective exchange to take place. This is particularly true in psychoanalysis. A uniform framework ensures that findings are comparable, etc., thus enabling standardization of the psychoanalytic process (Bachrach 1983). (51 pgs)

Demonstrate the dependence of transference phenomena, including resistance, on the analytic situation and its shaping by the analyst — starting with the appearance of his office and continuing with his behavior, his sex, his countertransference his personal equation, his theory, his image of man, his weltanschauung, etc. Thus, we will be testing the principal thesis of this book on the central core of psychoanalysis — transference and resistance — and investigating the extent of the analyst’s influence on the phenomena which are traditionally ascribed solely to the patient. (40 pgs)

We consider it vital to let the patient participate in the analyst’s reflections, including those about the context and background of interpretations, in order to facilitate his identifications. This permits us to regulate the relationship of closeness and distance to the analyst as the “object.” Heimann described this process; we have tried to describe its fundamental significance. (26 pgs)

Analytic work is performed in the therapeutic relationship. Thus the basic pattern exhibited by resistance is directed against the transference relationship which is being sought. (54 pgs)