ABSTRACT
A patient reacts both consciously and unconsciously to an intervention context on the basis of his or her perceptions of its implications. Psychotherapists are concerned here with the patient's unconscious perceptions, on the basis of which a patient reacts in a variety of ways. There are six major categories of reaction to be monitored in the patient's material: the intrapsychic response, gross behavioural and affective reactions, symptom alleviation and positive characterological change, symptomatic exacerbation, positive responses to the therapist, and attempts to harm and frustrate the therapist. These reactions usually have a considerable measure of logic in light of the implications of an activated intervention context. Thus, responses to perceptions bring psychotherapists full circle—back to the patient indicators that they wish to understand unconsciously in terms of activated intervention contexts and the patient's derivative responses.
