ABSTRACT
One of the most sacred tenets in the psychoanalytic tradition is that regardless of what other limitations might exist in the method of psychoanalysis, the technique of free association was without a doubt the best and most dependable avenue that had yet been devised for bringing into consciousness the unconscious sources of the patient’s neurotic difficulties. Classical psychoanalytic technique has tended to exclude the information by its interdiction of contact with other significant people in the patient’s life. In terms of modern field and communication theory, we must recognize that any change in the field situation is apt to change both the input and the output of the analytic transaction. The method of free association has offered unique insights into the nature and meaning of human fantasy life and parapraxic distortions.
