ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the aspects of analytic technique, relating them to the ideas initially exposed by Freud in "Mourning and Melancholia". In melancholy the ego identifies itself with the object ambivalently loved and hated, "the shadow of the object fell upon the ego". The interaction between the patient's and the analyst's nondreams will constitute a non-dream-for-two. Careful observation of enactments or non-dreams-for-two shows stagnant scenes articulated in melancholic, persecutory, or manic narratives. During chronic enactment intense pathologic identification occurs between analyst and patient, both under the domain of damaged aspects of the mind, which prevent thinking and contact with reality. The chapter helps for the analyst to pathologically identify him/herself with the patient or take part in enactments or non-dreams-for-two. It proposes that in some situations involving mainly traumatized, narcissistic, borderline, or psychotic patients, this pathological identification can be–for longer or shorter periods–a part of the analytic process.
