ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a fundamental shift in the therapeutic identities of psychoanalysts and psychotherapists as well as an alternative ontology of the therapeutic situation. The chapter focuses on care primarily of the medical patient, where care is comprised of relief of suffering and healing or cure. It is performed by a caregiver on or for the benefit of a patient or sufferer in the context of a relationship. At the center of care is this therapeutic relationship. Suffering as it is encountered in the therapeutic situation comes from two sources: It is brought in by patients from their lives and childhood development, or it arises as a result of their reactions to the various procedures deployed by the therapist. The CARE system has an interreferential relationship with the PANIC/GRIEF system that develops into adulthood and serves as a foundation for the caring bond between individuals found in nurturing and healing relationships.
