ABSTRACT
7It is next to impossible to account for what transpires in a psychoanalysis. Although clinicians collect vignettes, remember interpretations that make sense, and isolate important psychic themes, the sheer unconsciousness of a patient– analyst relationship makes it a difficult occasion to describe. How do I talk about the qualities of silence in an hour? How can I describe the mix of tonal stress and narrative content that constitutes the analysand’s unconscious emphasis of the emotional reality of a session? How shall I ever be able to narrate my inner dialogue with myself as I silently shadow the analysand, agreeing, disagreeing, querying, wondering, co-imagining? If it is possible for me to state precisely why I choose a particular interpretation, why in that moment? Why do I allow clear themes to pass without comment, only to pick up something else the patient says?
