ABSTRACT
Freud maintained that it was the interpretation of resistance and of transference that constituted the specific characteristics of his technique. Resistance is mainly an attempt to avoid pain and anxiety; it is directed against feelings of being small, helpless, dependent, excluded, destructive, and so on. Freud’s tripartite model of the mind seemed to initiate a trend that shifted the emphasis with respect to the therapeutic use of resistance. From the analyst concentrating his efforts on making the unconscious more conscious, the focus veered towards strengthening and supporting the ego. Khan felt that owing to Freud’s discoveries, the transference relationship offered the human ego the maximum scope for achieving self-awareness and mastery over his inner life. Khan believed that, through transference, the analyst could offer a relationship to take the patient out of his isolation. Acting out through the technique of intimacy breaks down this primary sense of isolation and establishes contact with an object, and through an object with self.
