Secret Conversations with My Father

This chapter continues my exploration of the multidimensional impact of the analyst’s subjectivity on the psychoanalytic enterprise. In a previous paper (Sucharov, 1996), I explored the implications of the central and continuous influence of the therapist’s subjectivity on the analytic process. In that context, I presented case material that highlighted the additional dimension of understanding generated by a listening stance that focused on the empathic dance of patient and therapist. I had chosen the metaphor of dance in an earlier paper (Sucharov, 1998) to capture the mutuality of empathy and the interpenetration of experience in the analytic encounter.