ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the elements facilitating influence on free association as a means of defining the frontier between psychoanalysis and the most closely related form of psychotherapy. It concurs that an understanding of the relationship between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy requires distinctions in terms of method. The chapter also considers only that segment of the field in which the free association method is the central element of technique. The effects on the free association method of the use of the couch are well known, starting with the evident emphasis it places on verbalization. The consequences of the use of the couch are parallel and complementary to those associated with increased frequency of sessions. The use of the couch, like the frequency of sessions, may be adopted or relinquished at times in the course of a patient's treatment, depending on inner and outer circumstances.
