This paper re-examines within a contemporary context an essential foundation of classical technique, the psychoanalytic situation. Defined in terms of basic elements of psychoanalytic relatedness which make possible the most profound exploration of human motivation, its core structure is viewed as an extraordinary interpersonal arrangement anchored by two clearly differentiated yet complimentary ways of relating: free-association and analytic neutrality. The patient's role, organized by the prerequisites of expressive freedom, is counter posed with the psychoanalyst's, which is structured to empower listening and understanding. Elaborating the parameters of this unique relationship, the authors emphasize the synergic effects of each participants' activity in creating a vehicle for destabilizing neurotic equilibrium. An extensive discussion of analytic neutrality, conceived as guiding ideal that informs all the analyst's attitudes and actions in the exploration of psychic reality, is presented. Specifically, the authors distinguish three essential dimensions which bear upon the interactive process: neutrality with regard to conflict, neutrality with regard to sequence, and neutrality with regard to transference. In contrast to the rigid constraint on human responsiveness often caricatured in the literature, this vision of technical neutrality establishes its vital contribution to the integrity, depth, and tone of any analytic process that unfolds.
"When the eyes move, the after-image moves in the same way [Helmholtz, 1924]." Since Helmholtz, if not before, it has generally been assumed that an afterimage would appear to move if the eyes were moving while it was viewed. The general basis of this notion is the phenomenon of position constancy: the fact that despite movements of the 0 that cause the image to move over the retina, a stationary scene will continue to look stationary. It is plausible to believe that position constancy is the result of a process in which image displacement that is concurrent with movement does not lead to the perceived movement of the objects whose images are displacing, because under these conditions the displacement is taken into account and movement is attributed to the 0 himself. Thus, image displacements dependent on 0 movement are taken into account so that the objects in the visual field appear stationary and the 0 experiences himself or some part of himself to be moving. Now, if it is the case that a correspondence between image displacement and 0 movement is a necessary condition for position constancy, then the absence of such a correspondence should lead to the loss of position constancy and the appearance of movement in the visual field. Since the afterimage does not displace, the afterimage should appear to move when the 0 moves.One might summarize this view of position constancy by saying that retinal image displacements are evaluated in terms of the available information about 0 movements so that a correspondence between image displacement and 0 movements will always lead to position constancy and conversely a lack of correspondence, retinal displacement in a noncorresponding direction or at a noncorresponding rate, or the absence of any retinal displacement at all coupled with 0 movement will always lead to the appearance of object movement. The perception of an afterimage during eye movement is quite analogous to Emmert's Law in the case of size perception. If the diminishing size of the image is taken into account in perceiving size as constant at increasing distances, then a nonchanging image must be seen as changingsize with increasing distance.Some qualifications: The evidence now indicates that the information about eye position and eye movement is derived from signals corollary to those going to the eye muscles rather than from proprioceptive feedback from the eye muscles (Brindley & Merton, 1960). Thus, where "there is no efferent information that the eyes have been directed to move and there is image displacement-as in the case of a passively pushed eye viewing a normal scene-no transference of the displacement "energy" occurs-and the scene will appear to jump. An afterimage, however, viewed under the same condition should appear stationary, for there is neither efferent information about eye movement nor image displacement.3
An integration of contemporary perspectives on resistance analysis is presented that emphasizes the salience of both intrapsychic and interactive dimensions of this phenomenon.Viewed as embodying desperate psychological imperatives imbued with unconscious infantile misconceptions, resistance is presented as serving multiple functions and encompassing aspects of all mental action within the psychoanalytic situation.Finding the analytic resources to exploit its relevant meanings is described as a central and indispensable aspect of working in depth. Several basic strategies for working with these phenomena are delineated in this article and the continued usefulness of understanding the role of resistance as guardian of psychic equilibrium is highlighted. Emphasis is given to safeguarding an analytic relationship that both sustains the patient and provides a vehicle for the exploration and modification of resistant activity.The observation that all patients devote considerable time and energy to activities that impede their analytic progress has impressed psychoanalysts
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.