Strangers to Ourselves: Exploring the Limits and Potentials of the Analyst's Self Awareness in Self- and Mutual Analysis

Abstract

The analyst's self-analysis—originally fashioned on Freud's solo foray into his own unconscious mind—continues to play an important psychoanalytic role. A summary of relevant literature is presented that includes recent relational psychoanalytic and neuroscientific data. Three major findings emerge: First, analysts' achievement of self-awareness in the analytic setting is clearly limited, more limited than we might like to admit, especially when we act alone; second, analysts reaching clinical self-awareness is a mutual, interactive process that, in addition to psychological processes, can be understood on the basis of operations uncovered by neuroscience, especially the mirror neuron system; third, accordingly, a form of “mutual” analysis is seen as an indispensable element of the analytic process. Analysts' achievement of self-awareness is discussed with a particular focus on our intrinsic relationality, and on mentalization, self-reflexivity, new relational experience, and therapeutic action. Illustrative case material is discussed.

Acknowledgments

Portions of this paper were presented at the Spring Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Division of Psychoanalysis (Division 39), New York City, April 12, 2008. I am indebted to Kim Bernstein, Ph.D. and to Irwin Hoffman, Ph.D., whose astute comments and editorial suggestions have been invaluable to me. I would also like to thank Dr. Sandra Shapiro for her guidance with the section on neuroscience.

Notes

¹ Calder's (1980) plenary address, “An Analyst's Self-Analysis,” was given to the American Psychoanalytic Association as the Immediate Past President. It exemplifies this practice.

²By symmetrical, I refer here to the similarity of our formal, respective roles and functions, especially with regard to self-revelation and interpretation.

³Later I go into the basis for my decision.

⁴Extensive documentation covering these areas is found in Frank (unpublished manuscript, 2012).

⁵“Personal” is given a specific meaning related to Piagetian assimilation and accommodation.

⁶Interested readers may wish to refer to Aron's (2000) in-depth discussion of the relationship between mentalization, self-reflexivity, and therapeutic action.