ABSTRACT

The Possible Profession: The Analytic Process of Change takes a fresh look at the many forms of unconscious communication that take place in the analytic situation. Bringing together two decades of the author’s previous writing as well as a considerable amount of new material, this book addresses a major contemporary issue in the field of psychoanalysis.

Unconscious communication in the analytic situation takes many forms. This book explores a number of these pathways as the author has encountered them in clinical work. Including numerous clinical examples, chapters cover a variety of topics with a central focus on:

    • the relationship between the inner worlds of patient and analyst
    • the interplay between these intrapsychic forces
    • how this interaction affects the analytic process and, more specifically, the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis.

Written in a clear and concise way this book contributes to a new understanding of familiar material in a way that will be welcomed by teachers, students, and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. It will also be of interest to dynamic therapists of all persuasions and academics in various fields interested in psychoanalytic thinking.

chapter |20 pages

Finding a Point of View

An Introduction

part |91 pages

Interaction and the Inner World

chapter 1|13 pages

On Beginnings

The Concept of the Therapeutic Alliance and the Interplay of Transferences in the Opening Phase

chapter 2|12 pages

The Inner Experiences of the Analyst

Their Contribution to the Analytic Process

chapter 3|21 pages

On Misreading and Misleading Patients

Some Reflections on Communications, Miscommunications and Countertransference Enactments

chapter 4|15 pages

Imaginary Gardens, Real Toads

On Memory and its Uses in the Analytic Process

chapter 5|13 pages

On Unconscious Communications and Covert Enactments

Some Reflections on Their Role in the Analytic Situation

chapter 6|9 pages

Patients as Instruments of Change in the Analyst

Their Role in the Analytic Process

chapter 7|7 pages

On Courage

A Fragment of an Analysis

part |74 pages

Questions, Controversies, Explorations

chapter 8|16 pages

On The Status of Nonverbal Communications

Some Reflections on Their Role in the Analytic Process and Analytic Education

chapter 10|22 pages

On the Question of Self-Disclosure

Error or Advance in Treatment

chapter 11|13 pages

Listening, Dreaming, Sharing

On the Uses of the Analyst's Inner Experiences

part |114 pages

Reflections, Extensions, Historical Perspectives

chapter |23 pages

Countertransference Past and Present

A Review of the Concept

chapter |19 pages

In Search of the Mind of the Analyst

A Progress Report

chapter |7 pages

Hans Loewald

An Appreciation

chapter |18 pages

On the Adolescent Neurosis

chapter |11 pages

Travels with Charlie

On My Longstanding Affair with Theory

chapter |19 pages

Insights, Epiphanies, and Working Through

On Healing, Self-Healing, and Creativity in the Writer and the Analyst