On Countertransference Enactments

Abstract

This communication focuses on the relation of countertransference to psychoanalytic technique, calling attention not to the more obvious forms of countertransference that have been commented on by previous writers on the subject, but to its subtler ones. Often well camouflaged within the framework of traditional, time-tested techniques, this aspect of countertransference may attach itself to our way of listening and thinking about patients, to our efforts at interpretation, to the process of working through, or to the complex issue of termination. Less recognizable than its more boisterous counterpart and in some respects less tangible, this side of the problem of countertransference is no less important. For it is precisely those subtle, often scarcely visible countertransference reactions, so easily rationalized as parts of our standard operating procedures and so easily overlooked, that may in the end have the greatest impact on our analytic work.

Mentalization, insightfulness, and therapeutic action: The importance of mental organization

“…We can better understand psychopathology, as well as better focus our interventions with patients, by tracking the ebb and fl ow of symbolizing versus de-symbolizing as they occur within the analytic encounter (Lasky, 2002). One might argue that action is ubiquitous in the analytic interaction (Aron, 1996;Boesky, 1990;Ellman and Moskowitz, 1998;Jacobs, 1986Jacobs, , 1991Levenson, 1972;McLaughlin, 1981;Ogden, 1982) and that the discrepancy between words and action is an important surface.…”

Pasarse de la raya: Heroínas relacionales y el exceso relacional

“…Entre nuestros predecesores profesionales también se encontraban aquellos escritores freudianos (p.ej. Jacobs, 1986Jacobs, , 1988Loewald, 1960;Sandler, 1976) cuyas obras humanizaron la relación analítica y exploraron las dinámicas transferenciales-contratransferenciales y de los enactments (véase Mitchell, 2000). Escritores que criticaron la noción de regresión a la dependencia, proveniente de la teoría de relaciones objetales, ignoraron la compleja perspectiva de Winnicott (1969) sobre la evolución de la capacidad de usar los objetos a partir de la regresión y la exposición de Balint (1966) sobre la regresión maligna -sobre los riesgos inherentes a la regresión.…”

Minderwertigkeitsgefühl und Machtstreben als Koproduktion?

“…Es geht hier um Phänomene, die momentan in der analytischen Diskussion "en vogue" sind und auf die ich, ohne auf Unterschiede einzugehen, verweisen möchte: Kollusionen (Willi 1975), Handlungsdialog (Klüver 1995), "enactments" (Jacobs 1986), "now moments" (Stern et al 2002), Inszenierungen (Streeck 2002), basales Verstehen (Heisterkamp 2002) usw.…”