On The Analyst's Neutrality

Abstract

It is by the application of the principle of neutrality, born of his respect for the essential otherness of the patient, that the analyst focuses the dyadic analytic work in the service of the patient's growing self-analytic capacity. Thus, the general principle of neutrality is distinguished from the technical tactic of abstinence, the latter being a specific function utilized to facilitate and foster analytic regression. Neutrality can be defined as it applies to the major subfunctions of the analyst's work ego. Perception of the patient's intrapsychic processes (both empathically and cognitively) requires a neutrality of appearance on the analyst's part in order to minimize the distortion of the unfolding transference neurosis. Integration and understanding of the patient's communications require mastery and neutralization of the analyst's own internal processes in order to minimize countertransferential distortions. Appropriate interpretive intervention requires neutrality of action, i.e., mastery of impulses related to power, neutralizing them into the service of the analytic work; tact is defined as a specific psychoanalytic function in this regard. Collaborative ignorance is examined as a specific instance of false neutrality. In this an analytic guise serves to mask a countertransferential conflict. Neutrality serves as an overriding technical principle, not an imperative for perfectionism . Factors intrinsic to the analytic process also influence the application of this principle.

Reminiscence, Ritual, andBeyondWorking Through: Commentary on Papers by Joyce Slochower and by Laura Impert and Margaret Rubin

“…That is, during such traditional Jewish commemorative rituals, fellow mourners and congregants, together, create this holding, organizing, and witnessing function. As Poland (1984) has elaborated, the witness is more than a regulatory container; rather, the witness is a form of interaction, and, therefore, not only do the ritual participants stand in for the original maternal presence, but they also represent new relational bonds.…”

The fundamental rule: Its utilization in the conversion of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to psychoanalysis

“…Poland (1984) has distinguished between neutrality as a concept connoting the absence of color and neutrality as a concept reflecting relationships among conflicting or competing forces. To these definitions he adds a third, specifically psychoanalytic concept of neutrality, namely, the analyst's neutralization and mastery of his own internal processes.…”

“…If the psychotherapist has maintained a consistent 'I do not mean to imply that psychotherapy has established goals where psychoanalysis does not, nor that the psychotherapist has a stake in the result of the treatment, whereas the psychoanalyst is indifferent to the outcome of the analytic work. As Poland (1984) has stressed, "no matter his dedication to scientific research, if the analyst's work has no impact on his analysand, the analysis is meaningless" (p. 287). Downloaded by [La Trobe University] at 10:07 20 June 2016 "analytic attitude" (Schafer, 1983) and "non-directive spirit," (Gill, 1954) the nature of the relationship between patient and psychotherapist will not preclude a complete elucidation and resolution of the transference.…”

A Different Perspective On the Therapeutic Process: the Impact of the Patient On the Analyst

“…Yet analysts often resist openly discussing and describing such changes in themselves and how they come about. There are, of course, notable exceptions in which analysts openly describe their countertransferences and elaborate their self-analytic process (Calder 1980;Eifermann 1987Eifermann , 1993Gardner 1983;Jacobs 1991;Kramer 1959;Margulies 1993;McLaughlin 1981McLaughlin , 1988Natterson and Friedman 1995;Poland 1984;Silber 1996;Sonnenberg 1991). Nonetheless, when analysts discuss the phenomenon of their continuing personal change among themselves, there seems to be an uncertainty about how representative or unique their own experiences are.…”