ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the description of the difficulties in "The Identity of the Psychoanalyst" by describing the mode of operation of the analyst who has achieved a secure identity. It emphasizes the importance of spontaneity in addition to intellectual control. Spontaneity introduces an artistic element which enlarges the area in which preconscious communication between patient and analyst can take place. Psychoanalysis has both traumatic and therapeutic elements. The clearest indication of its traumatic quality lies in the fact that it regularly induces a flight from reality. This is the most dramatic feature of analysis, and this chapter describes it as the development of transference. The chapter also describes the significance of spontaneity for object relationship and identification. The patient responds spontaneously to both types of interpretation. But the analyst's spontaneity acts to release him from his role as a professional and brings him together with the patient as an individual.
