ABSTRACT
In the case of the analytic process, the evolution of the treatment follows the braid formed by its emotional, interpretative, and interactional dimensions. The chapter identifies correspond to the three dimensions of mind—emotion, cognition, and conation—that D. Rapaport included in his "conceptual model of psychoanalysis". There are differences in the kind of unconscious mental processes that are studied best in an impersonal or in a multi-personal field, but the fact remains that what W. R. Bion wrote then about groups seems to be perfectly applicable to the impersonal psychoanalytic situation. The analyst should always keep a sense of direction, in order to evaluate whether the process is moving forward as intended, but only observe it and comment it with the patient, in order that they may gain some understanding of it together. Negotiation is not restricted to some specific moments, but can be conceived as an ongoing process that constitutes one of the essential elements of psychoanalytic treatment.
