Freud said that if you study transference and resistance, that is psychoanalysis. I know I have talked about countertransference in that past, but I neglected to talk about transference. Transference comes down to the first person you meet, your mother. We call that the object. The primary object is your mother. When you are born, […]
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What types of patients do you see in your practice?
In terms of people I work with, my practice right now is kids between 8 and my oldest patient right now is 83. I work with children, I work with adolescents, I work with adults, I work with geriatrics, and everything in between. I think it’s a technique that can be applied to anybody. People […]
Negative Transference
Some analysts as part of the analysis suggest, that you do not discuss all your thoughts and feelings with your friends. I don’t do that. The problem occurs, not so much as you say things to your friends, but when your friends start giving you advice. That’s where you can run into problems. I wear […]
What is “The Presenting Problem?”
People come into therapy because they have what I call “the presenting problem.” Before I talk about what those might be, people will come in because they need to feel better. They need the antibiotic. You know, “make me feel better.” What’s interesting about this profession is some people will solve that presenting problem, and […]
When Should an Analyst Talk?
When I went in to see Dr. Spotnitz the first time he said, “Tell me your life story, minute by minute, moment by moment” and he didn’t say a word for two years. When I asked him a question he would say, “Keep talking.” Those were the most frustrating years of my life. I don’t […]
What does “Say Everything” mean?
The idea is, in modern psychoanalysis, that you come in and you talk. The quote is, “say everything.” It sounds so simple to come in and just say everything. It’s very difficult. The term for the difficulty, what gets in the way, is called a resistance: resistance to saying everything, telling your life story, and […]
How Do You Resist Leading Patients?
Everyone has their own truth. You and I could witness something and you go in a room and explain what you saw, and I can go in a room and explain what I saw, and it may be two very different versions. This woman did a TED Talk and they showed a tape of somebody […]
What is “Countertransference”?
What’s interesting about modern psychoanalysis is countertransference. Freud was aware of countertransference. He thought it got in the way of treating patients. Countertransference is the analyst’s feeling for the patient. Of course, now, there’s subjective and objective: Subjective meaning something happened in my past, so I feel a certain way about the way the patient’s […]
What do your patients talk about?
Many patients want to think they’re not talking about the right thing. There is no right or wrong thing. If we start with the premise that all words and actions are unconsciously motivated, and I think they are, then there is no right. There are clues in everything that is said. I have one young […]
When is a Patient Ready to Stop Psychoanalysis?
I’ve had patients with me double digit years and I’ve had patients with me months. Do I think you can accomplish a lot in months? No. When I went to Doctor Spotnitz, first day I walk in and he says, “I want you to tell me your life story, minute by minute, moment by moment.” […]