ABSTRACT

The "frame" is a concept first introduced by Bateson and since used extensively in sociology and psychoanalysis. 2 It is the conceptual delineation of the constraints of patient-therapist interaction. The physical constraints are the obvious ones: limited contact, time, money, frequency, promptness, cancellations, vacations, and so forth. There is the mutual contract, to endure and to examine what happens between them. The patient is held to the contract of honest effort, reporting of dreams, associations, and commitment to coming even when he doesn't want to.