ABSTRACT
Acting out can be defined as actions of the patient which offer belated discharge possibilities for repressed infantile impulses or guilt feelings of the past in present-day situations. These situations are associatively connected to the past but the patient is unaware of the connection. Acting out has to be differentiated from other neurotic actions which occur during analysis. In particular it has to be differentiated from symptomatic actions and abreaction experiences. Acting out differs from symptomatic actions in that the symptomatic act is ego alien and usually refers to part of a past situation. Acting out occurs very frequently during analysis. It should be remembered, however, that it also occurs outside the realm of psychoanalysis, but then it is not available for investigation and interpretation. The main reason for the frequent occurrence of acting out during the course of analysis is bound up with the transference.
