ABSTRACT
This chapter traces out the technical implications of the ethical model of psychoanalysis outlined in this book. Highlighting the limitations of both classically objectivist and contemporary postmodern approaches to technique, the author argues for our moral and professional obligation to clearly explicate our operative technical principles. In order to fully realize the dialectical vision of psychoanalytic ethics developed here, we need to uphold certain “technical” dialectics in everyday practice, most notably the dialectics between subjectivity and behavior, between consciousness and unconsciousness, between exploration and change, and between Self and Other. By preserving these dialectics, we can move towards more accessible, pragmatic, and hopefully effective models of analytic work. The author reviews the treatment of a patient who suffered severe suicidality and psychological impairment in the context of an intensive psychoanalysis that collapsed these dialectics, with notably improved clinical outcomes when he transitioned into an analytic psychotherapy organized around maintaining these dialectics.
