ABSTRACT
In chapter 1, I noted that the experiential psychoanalytically oriented examiner makes use of several sources of information about the patient in deriving clinical inferences. In this chapter I discuss one source—the patient–examiner relationship. Other sources will be discussed in subsequent chapters. Here, I begin by reviewing the seminal contributions of Schafer (1954) and Schachtel (1966). On the basis of contemporary trends in psychoanalysis, I then discuss the issue of countertransference. Finally, I survey more recent attempts to reconceptualize the patient–examiner relationship from the perspectives of object-relations theory and self psychology.
