ABSTRACT
In this book I continue to explore the themes developed in Psychic Retreats (1993), especially those that appear from a consideration of clinical situations where patients feel stuck and where a failure to develop impedes the progress of the analysis. As in my previous works, my starting point is the recognition that we all need defences to protect us from anxiety and pain. The aim of analysis is not to remove the patient’s defences but to understand them and through such understanding gradually to help the patient recognise new possibilities and potentials.
