ABSTRACT
Psychoanalysis remains, of course, a task done with conscious attention to certain essential elements. Psychoanalytic listening is conflictual by its nature. The procedures of psychoanalysis on the one hand, the intrapsychic processes it stimulates on the other, and the interrelational processes that are also evoked between patient and analyst, are equally essential parts of a whole. The start of a new analysis brings a sense, for analyst as well as patient, of embarking on something. The analysis of Herr E was drawing to its close at the same time as Sigmund Freud's friendship with Wilhem Fliess was becoming strained. Free-associative listening is bound to resonate beyond the preconscious mind of the analyst, evoking memories, thoughts and feelings that may be charged with conflict and anxiety. Countertransference to the patient and to the process are not separate, since there can be no process without a patient.
