Paying Attention and Feeling Puzzled: The Analytic Mindset as an Agent of Therapeutic Change

Abstract

The Relational turn has affirmed emotional interaction without losing sight of the complexities of the internal world, thus reforming psychoanalysis. This paper, however, is concerned that this well-justified enthusiasm for interaction may be distracting us from opportunities offered by analysts’ special aptitude for an open, quiet, focused mind in the midst of intense emotional and interpersonal activity. This special orientation is considered in relation to the analyst’s tolerance for ambiguity and even confusion. The effects of the analyst’s reflective concentration as a change factor in the analytic field are discussed, using nonlinear dynamic systems theories and a phenomenological perspective.

Notes

¹ Robert Rubin, the former Secretary of the Treasury and director of leading financial companies, explained that he did not fault decisions that he made with incomplete information, as long as they were based on whatever limited information was available at that time (Times magazine; http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/19/magazine/keeping-the-boom-from-busting.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1). Psychoanalysts might do well to keep this perspective in mind.

² Many of the most memorable relational case reports describe dramatic instances of such dissonances. This genre has broken through the reserve of many more conventional clinical papers and thus been essential in elucidating the value of sorting out and living through breakdowns within the transference–countertransference. However, its popularity may have obscured some of the less sensational, mundane everyday back-and-forth through analytic dyads negotiate and recalibrate such uncertainties.

³ This is not to rule out other options, of course, including offering a practical solution, inquiring about the urgency, explaining that the therapeutic process might take some time, describing my own response, offering a specific interpretation of the situation, and so on.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen Seligman

Stephen Seligman, D.M.H., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Infant-Parent Program, University of California, San Francisco; Training and Supervising Analyst, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis & Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California; and Joint Editor-in-Chief, Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives.