ABSTRACT
In Chapter 7, I summarise my findings. I go over the steps by which I arrived at these, in drawing attention to the phenomenon of the apparent relegation of imagery within psychoanalytic discourse, the richness, complexity and significance of the therapist’s daydream in relation to the patient, and the defensive-creative role it plays within clinical practice. I have suggested that the therapist’s ability to recognise and value the capacity for visualisation may not only enhance sensitivity to the patient’s internal world, and thereby, provide a valuable tool for both theoretical understanding and analytic insight, but may also enrich the therapist’s own experience of their work.
