ABSTRACT
A communication about therapeutic action ought ideally to be part of the process of developing ourselves as analysts. Certainly insofar as the formulation of the theory gets in the way of the analytic process, by encouraging a stance that too “knows” or too intrusive or too withdrawn, then even if the content of the theory is true, the form of communication is open to criticism. Psychoanalysis, by contrast, is at its core a peculiar conversation among adults that aims at fundamental psychic change. If psychoanalysis were a once-and-for-all cure, then the therapeutic action would be something one could get over with. How one spoke to someone in the therapy would be delicate, but after it was over, one could revert to simple assertions. Thus analysts would have to be careful about how they communicated with their analysands, but they could speak to each other directly, in the simple mode of assertion.
