ABSTRACT
I begin the writing of this book not in my office. It’s August, and my office is on vacation. Nonetheless, although I temporarily stopped seeing patients for 50-minute sessions in my room on West 82nd Street, I had not fully vacated my position. The psychoanalytic office does not exist apart from the office of the psychoanalyst, and these two are somewhat analogous to the White House and the office of the presidency. A president is not always in the White House but never stops occupying the office while on the job, and even, to some degree, remains in office even after leaving the White House.
