While most of our methods of listening have been geared toward unearthing unconscious fantasies, those directed toward the ego's all-inclusive role in effecting the associative process have lagged far behind. It is the thesis of this paper that listening from the perspective of the ego allows the analyst to work more closely with what the patient is ready to understand. Clinical technique, using an ego psychological view, is elaborated, demonstrated, and compared to technique dependent on the reading of signs and symbols of the unconscious.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arlow, J. (1979).Metaphor and the psychoanalytic situation. Psychoanalytic Quarterly48:363—385.
2.
Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1895). Studies on hysteria. Standard Edition2.
3.
Busch, F. .(1989). The compulsion to repeat in action: A developmental perspective. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis70:535—544.
4.
——— (1992). Recurring thoughts on the unconscious ego resistances . Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association40:1089—1115.
5.
——— (1993). “In the neighborhood”: Aspects of a good interpretation and its relationship to a “developmental lag” in ego psychology. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association41:151—178.
6.
——— (1994). Some ambiguities in the method of free association and their implications for technique. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:363—384.
7.
——— (1995a). Beginning a psychoanalytic treatment: Establishing an analytic frame. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:449—468.
8.
——— (1995b). Do actions speak louder than words? A query into an enigma in analytic theory and technique. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:61—82.
9.
——— (1995c). The Ego at the Center of Clinical Technique. Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
10.
——— (1995d). Resistance analysis and object relations theory: Erroneous conceptions amidst some timely contributions. Psychoanalytic Psychology12:43—53.
11.
——— (1995e). An unknown classic: N.M. Searl's (1936) “Some queries on principles of technique.”Psychoanalytic Quarterly64:326—344.
12.
——— (1997). The ego and its significance in analytic interventions . Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association44:1073—1099.
13.
Eagleton, T. (1983). Literary Theory. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press.
14.
Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Standard Edition4/5.
15.
——— (1910). “Wild” psycho-analysis. Standard Edition11: 221—227.
16.
Gill, M.M. (1979). The analysis of the transference. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association27(suppl.): 263—288.
17.
Gray, P. (1973). Psychoanalytic technique and the ego's capacity for viewing intrapsychic conflict. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association21:474—494.
18.
——— (1982). “Developmental lag” in the evolution of technique for psychoanalysis of neurotic conflict. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association30:621—655.
19.
——— (1986). On helping analysands observe intrapsychic activity . In Psychoanalysis, the Science of Mental Conflict: Essays in Honor of Charles Brenner, ed. A.D. Richards & M.S. Willick,. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, pp. 245—262.
20.
——— (1987). On the technique of analysis of the superego: An introduction. Psychoanalytic Quarterly56:130—154.
21.
——— (1990a). A conversation with Paul Gray. The American Psychoanalyst24:10—11.
22.
——— (1990b). The nature of therapeutic action in psychoanalysis . Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association38:1083—1097.
23.
——— (1992). Memory as resistance and the telling of a dream . Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association40:307—326.
24.
——— (1994). The Ego and Analysis of Defense. Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
25.
Klein, G. (1976). Psychoanalytic Theory: An Exploration of Essentials . New York: International Universities Press.
26.
Kris, A.O. (1982). Free Association: Method and Process. New Haven: Yale University Press.
27.
——— (1983).The analyst's conceptual freedom in the method of free association. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis64:407—411.
28.
———( 1990). Helping patients by analyzing self-criticism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association38:605—636.
29.
——— (1992). Interpretation and the method of free association . Psychoanalytic Inquiry12:208—224.
Sandler, A.-M., & Sandler, J. (1994). Comments on the conceptualization of clinical facts in psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis75:995—1010.
32.
Sharpe, E.F. (1940). Psycho-physical problems revealed in language: An examination of metaphor. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis21:201—213.
33.
Spillius, E.B. (1994). On formulating clinical fact to the patient. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis75:1121—1132.
34.
Voth, H.M. (1970). The analysis of metaphor. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association18:599—621.
