ABSTRACT
Participating on this panel has created a difficult conundrum for me. My collaborators and I have been writing and speaking about the role of the relationship in the therapeutic process for more than 25 years now, beginning with our first conceptualization of the therapeutic dyad as an intersubjective system formed by the reciprocally interacting experiential worlds of patient and therapist (Stolorow, Atwood, and Ross, 1978). What can I possibly have to say about this subject that you haven't read or heard before? In order to avert the danger of putting both you and me soundly to sleep, I have decided to draw on an aspect of my personality that has made me particularly beloved here in Chicago. I shall play the role of irritating gadfly, questioning and challenging the philosophical assumptions that embed Weisel-Barth's clinical presentation.
