ABSTRACT
The personality of the analyst came in for considerable scrutiny when patients were asked what they believed to be essential for a “good” analysis. As well as noting significant human qualities perceived in their own analytic experiences, they also brought up those qualities which they believed to be missing, but were considered crucial for a good working relationship. Kerry presented some thoughts about the significance of the analyst’s active presence in the relationship. She believed that the analytic model had a potential flaw in it. Kate specified that she would have liked to see “more of the analyst’s personality” and more thoughtfulness “on the impact of interpretations on the client”. Carmel presented ideas around the need for some congruence between the patient’s verbalizations and the analyst’s interpretations. Jenny explained that she wanted to change the misperceptions about analysis because of annoyance at “the bad press analysis gets, and usually from people who haven’t been there.”.
