Dynamic Insight into Psychoanalysis

I am not a psych oanalyst ... ye t. As a second yea r resid ent , th ou gh , I am a t a point in my career where I appreciat e oppor tunit ies to peer in to th e world of psychoanalysis. It is to thi s end that I recommend reading The Use of the Self Countertransference and Communication in the A nalytic Situation by Theod ore J. J acobs, M.D. The book int ends to demonstrat e how an awa re ness of th e nonverbal aspect of com m unica t ion ca n lead to a greater understanding of th e a na lyt ic process. In pr esenting an overvi ew of th e th em e, it is difficult to avoid usin g some of the psychoanalytic terminology used by th e author. Through th e use of case vigne t tes and an enjoyable and con cise dialogue, on e gains an appreciation of th e ways in wh ich th e ph enomenon of counte r t ra nsfere nce manifests it self in both subt le a nd overt ways. Many of th e psychoanalytic conce pts, however, are beyond th e beginner level , th us making it less accessibl e to those who a re unfamiliar with th e more eso te ric ideas in psychoanalysi s. In Sections I a nd II , en tit led "B eginning an Analysis: Transferen ce-Count er t ra nsferen ce Int eractions" a nd "Transferen ce as a Process: Int eractive Eleme nts ," Dr. Jacobs lays th e groundwork for the development of high er level conce pts th at are used in the latter part of the book. H e discusses th e importance of aware ness of transference, both positive and negative, and init ial impressions in th e ope ning ph ase of treatment. He pr esents th e obs ervation that secret s ca n develop between a na lyst and patient which lead to negative transferen ce, st re ngt he n resist an ce a nd influ en ce th e quality of th e th erapeutic a llia nce. The conce pt of tran sferen ce neurosis is pr esent ed in suc h a way th at on e ca n appreciat e it s complexity as well as the ways in whi ch it is played out between th e an alyst and th e patient. His clini cal sto ries lend themselves as examples of how both th e analyst and th e patient ca n un consciously form un spoken secrets that recreate conflicts from th e patient 's past. Section III en tit led "Uses of th e Analytic In strument," reviews techniques