ABSTRACT
Like all forms of creative activity, psychoanalytic writing is both a solitary act and a form of communication to the other. It serves a variety of functions for the individual writer. Psychoanalytic writers typically write for other professionals whose vocation involves deconstructing and exploring the complications of individual and interpersonal dynamics. A transitional space is thereby established within which ideas may develop without requiring that the writer make sense of them in ways that would prematurely truncate the creative process. The writer may focus on fears about colleagues' retaliation in order to sidestep more basic worries about her capacity to think and write, or alternatively, may deny competitive concerns by emphasising her personal vulnerability. Despite the facilitating potential of creative illusions, considerable risks are inherent in their use; a prolonged retreat to a single-minded illusion of certainty leaves the writer absolutely wedded to her ideas, unable to consider alternative viewpoints.
