Analysis of the Therapeutic Factors in Psychoanalytic Treatment

Abstract

Observations made during the therapeutic procedure are the primary source of psychoanalytic knowledge. Most of our knowledge of psychodynamics stems from this source. Precise understanding of the therapeutic factors is significant both for improving our therapeutic techniques and also for increasing our theoretical knowledge. Between theory and therapy there is a reciprocal relationship: observations made during treatment are the main source of our theoretical knowledge, and we apply our theoretical formulations to improve our technique.This presentation is based on the premise that much in our therapeutic procedure is still empirical, and that many of the processes which take place in patients during psychoanalysis are not yet fully understood.In particular, there is divergence of opinion concerning 1, the relative therapeutic value of the patient's intellectual insight into the origin and nature of his neurosis; 2, the relative value of emotional discharge (abreaction); 3, the role of emotional experiences during treatment as they evolve in the transference; 4, the role of parallel experiences in life; 5, the significance of the time factor (frequency of interviews, technical interruptions, length of the treatment). The last question is practical and the answer to it depends both on clinical experience and on the clarification of the first four.

Truth as Immediacy and Unison: a New Common Ground in Psychoanalysis? Commentary on Essays Addressing “Is Truth Relevant?”

“…Accusations of superficiality have also been launched, of providing only corrective experiences. We should keep in mind, however, that for Alexander (1950), the point was not the corrective experience in itself-how could it not be in some way "corrective"?-but the active manipulation of the setting as a means of reaching it. At any rate, in response to these criticisms from "left" and "right," Allison and Fonagy appeal to the impact of infant research and to the centrality of the mother-child relationship.…”

Non-Interpretative Analytic Techniques for Sicker Borderline Patients

“…We would like to mention one thing here about the corrective empathic experience, which is different from Alexander (1950)'s corrective emotional experience. In corrective empathic experiences, the analyst is not a benevolent object who supplies a lacking part of a patient but a neutral object who understands and conveys to a patient his or her lacking part.…”

“…In other words, good therapeutic alliance increases effectiveness of interpretations. The followings are some of the many examples which emphasized the importance of therapeutic alliance: the unobjectionable positive transference and alliance (Freud 1965), corrective emotional experience (Alexander 1950), analytic situation (Stone 1973), working alliance (Greenson 1965), real relationship (Greenson and Wexler 1969), and passing the patient's test (Weiss 1988).…”

Psychotherapy versus usual care in pediatric migraine and tension-type headache: a single-blind controlled pilot study

“…Three main hypotheses have been advanced to explain the association between psychopathology and headache: 1) the existence of a bidirectional causality between psychological disorders and headache; 2) the presence of common etiological factors; and 3) the presence of an interaction between psychological and somatic factors [9-11]. Moreover, children with headache have a greater risk of developing psychological disorders in adulthood compared with their healthy peers, and early intervention in these subjects may reduce this risk significantly [12].…”