ABSTRACT
In this paper I would like to continue some of the work that has been highlighted by Kohut (1971), Bach (2006), and Ellman (1998), namely, the conditions that make for trust and containment in the analytic space. While these authors have written in great detail about how one can enter the world of the patient in order to further their sense of “owning” the treatment, I do not think enough emphasis has been put on the difficulties that ensue when the analyst is seen as entering a space that can seem rigid and cold and shame-inducing. This can happen particularly at some point in the treatment when the patient enters into a three-person system and wishes suddenly to know more about the therapist (Aron, 2006; Benjamin, 2004). When the analyst at that point cannot in some way become more real to the patient (sometimes by answering direct questions) a deep narcissistic wound and rupture may occur. I think this issue is particularly complicated at this time in our history since clinicians tend to (at least on paper) divide up into those that feel they can answer questions and loosen the frame and those that do not (mainly because of a political pull to align with either a Freudian or Relational position). Therefore, I would like to explore (on paper) what it is for a Freudian analyst to sometimes disclose personal information.
