ABSTRACT
The author, in this chapter, describes and illustrates aspects of how he talks with his patients. In his clinical work, he avoids use of language that invites the patient to engage predominantly in conscious, secondary process thinking when unconscious dimensions of thinking are what are called for. He values misunderstandings because they tend to invite conjecture, possibility, a sense of humility in the face of the unknown and unknowable human condition. The author finds that certainty on the part of the analyst undermines the analytic process and the patient’s potential for psychic growth. He discusses the ways in which describing, as opposed to explaining, in the analytic conversation, better facilitates the analytic process. A clinical example is provided in which the author discusses his thought processes as he talks with one of his patients.
