ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author suggests that Strachey may have reversed the problem, or at least the sequence—putting the cart before the horse—as it seems the crucial difficulty lies in their initial and ongoing capacity to accept the patient's projective identification. Without fully accepting these projections, the author contact with the patient is weakened, resulting in a tentative transference interpretation or a weakened, frightened state of mind in the analyst. The chapter explores this question and its implications for their technique as he goes along—but would like to remind us of Bion's now classic statement on the mother/analyst's state of mind: The term reverie may be applied to almost any content. James Strachey's brilliant paper on therapeutic action has provided a touchstone for analysts since its publication in 1934, his central point ability to give a mutative interpretation, working from within the transference.
