ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights some of the frame components of the therapeutic attitude specific to psychoanalytically orientated therapeutic processes. As one attempt to define the frame, one could say that it encompasses the implicit and explicit rules that create the distinctive set of conditions that characterise psychoanalytic psychotherapy as opposed to any other human social activity. This basic set of conditions applies to all forms of psychoanalytic therapy, whether a once-per-week short therapy or a five-times-per-week analysis. In order to understand what is encompassed by the concept of “frame” or “setting”, which contains factors that have been considered in the literature to belong to the frame or setting of psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Studies on the subject of sexual abuse in psychotherapy show that it ranges from 7% to 12% for male therapists and 2–3% for female therapists. The long-established and well-known medical principle of confidentiality is of paramount importance in psychotherapy.
