Effects of Posture and Anxiety Level on Effectiveness of Free Association

Abstract

S*rnmary.-Clinicai observations have characterized low anxious (LA) Ss as wssessing a repressive-denial defense pattern. The psychoanalytic notion that repression diminishes with relaxation and reduced motility on the couch was examined in the predictions that supine LA Ss would free-associate more effec-, tively than supine HA Ss, but that the reverse would hold uue in the sitting position. The 10 highest and lowest trait-anxiety rankings in each of the postural conditions were given Bordin's free-association procedure Results indicated a significant effect for posture and an interaction with anxiety level in the predicted direction. The differential effect of motility on repression in LA Ss visa-vis other defense styles in H A Ss was discussed.

The Role of the Couch in Psychoanalysis: Proposed Research Designs and Some Preliminary Data

“…Indeed, we could find only two published empirical studies and a survey of clinicians that might shed light on the effect of use of the couch on psychoanalytic process; neither study assessed the degree of analytic process in the two different positions, nor did either investigate actual clinical analyses. Kroth and Forrest (1969) studied subjects' ability to free associate sitting up and lying down. Subjects (N = 40) were randomly assigned to the sitting-up or lying-down condition, and then high-and low-anxiety groups were created within each condition using subjects' scores on the Trait Anxiety Index (TAI).…”

Supine body posture reduces cognitive conflict processing: Evidence from N450 Stroop interference

“…Although Freud (1913, pp. 133–134) claimed that he did this because he could not “put up with being stared at by other people” and to “prevent transference,” other psychoanalysts suggested, and some research suggests, that lying flat on a sofa may cause clients to free associate more, expressing their thoughts and cognitive conflicts with less censorship or defensiveness (Berdak & Bakan, 1967; Kroth, 1970; Kroth & Forrest, 1969; Schachter & Kächele, 2010). In more recent times, researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) also have their participants lie flat inside a scanner, not to make their “clients” less defensive but because fMRI units are placed in such a way that a supine posture is necessary.…”

What do you believe in? Clinical conviction or empirical evidence?

“…The psychoanalytic concept of free association is one. It has been tested in quite a number of experimental studies (Bordin, 1966;Kroth & Forrest, 1969); however, none of these studies could clarify the role of free association as a clinical tool because they were analogue studies with limited validity for the clinical situation. From your own experimental study, I know how difficult it is to catch the therapeutic dialogue with elements of free-flowing thought (Heckmann, Hoelzer, Kaechele, & Robben, 1987).…”