ABSTRACT
This chapter uses an interpersonal perspective to challenge some key assertions in Jessica Benjamin’s (2018) Beyond Doer and Done To. It questions the notion that there is ever a period after enactments, arguing for their ubiquitousness; once one is resolved, the psychoanalytic couple unwittingly enters into another. Although the resolution of enactments can lead to greater intersubjective mutuality and sharing, the argument is made for the need of certain analysands to maintain a private inner world. Along these lines, differentiating between analysands who have suffered deep childhood trauma from those who have not and don’t resort to pathological dissociation to deal with unbearable affect is encouraged. Often, the anger expressed in the midst of an enactment is really felt toward the analyst, apologizing too quickly in order to resolve an enactment risks foreclosing on the benefits of the analysand expressing aggression toward the analyst.
