ABSTRACT
Metapsychological models have a special technical purpose that is intimately linked to the use of constructions in analysis. Every particular system of metapsychology proposes a certain model of the mind and its functioning. A model of the mind attempts to anticipate the most likely variations in the structure of any given individual's internal landscape so as to facilitate both assessment and treatment. Good metapsychological writing will probably always sound like a third person theory at the purely textual level even if its intent is to present a second person theory. In technical terms, models are tools for understanding and interpreting both transference and counter-transference. It is only by seizing upon what is happening in themselves that analysts will be able to improvise a vocabulary, tailored to the needs of the client, for what is also happening in the client.
