ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the fragile conditions in which the analytic setting is implemented. It is often the case that the parameters that ensure the optimal conditions for conducting an effective analytic treatment cannot be realized. Many psychoanalysts have shown themselves to be in favour of this technique, after realizing that more satisfactory analytic work could be achieved face to face. It is true that the patient often feels relieved and more at ease in the face-to-face setting, yet the analyst may notice changes in the style of the therapeutic work. The chapter recognizes that the indications for analysis are more restricted, and its aims more specific. In short, we must distinguish between the desire to relieve suffering, which dominates psychotherapy, and that of analysing, which entails work of another nature.
