ABSTRACT
Difficult behavior is frequently indicating a search for something necessary that has been missing, as for adequate boundaries and/or containment. Or seeking someone really able to engage with confrontation ‘without collapse or retaliation’. Or in seeking emotional holding that has been absent. Also seen in unconscious prompts by the patient. Noting the direction of an interpretation, as from present to past, which often deflects from the present relationship with the analyst, and can be seen as the analyst being self-protecting. Compare this with connecting the past to present that can better enable further working with something difficult in the present, which may be a moment of history being re-lived, rather than ‘going down memory lane’ that is always likely to be seen as easier for the analyst. The pain of experiencing something good that had been seriously missing before, particularly in childhood.
