ABSTRACT
There is no single psychodynamic theory and hence no single way of constructing a psychodynamic formulation. Psychoanalysis has reproduced within itself many of the controversies of the entire field. It contains a multiplicity of ideas and approaches: there are competing visions, differing assumptions and a wide variety of possible conceptualisations which have led to an endless debate. The term psychodynamic is now used generically to encompass the many theoretical approaches that remain connected to these psychoanalytic roots. A key feature of the psychodynamic use of formulation can be related to this confusing multiplicity: that sustaining a sense of uncertainty is in itself a value that has come to be held very close to the heart of the modern psychodynamic stance. In the realm of unconscious processes one should not presume to know too much. No form or formula can be clung to as a secure guide – except perhaps that of ‘not knowing’.
