Participants’ impressions of psychoanalytic work

​

“exploring her identity…and…attempting a

relationship…”

 

“growing of (a) new

self-consciousness”

 

“Being free to bring anything up no matter how small or petty I might

think it is”

 

“He finds relief in it (talking)…where he can talk about anything rather than limiting it to a certain sort of common

interest…”

 

“She's taking the interpretations on board very well…”

 

“out of sight was out of mind… quite frightening…She’s at a really low point at the moment,

I can feel it myself. The therapy (is) really getting her to sort of that regressed sadness, so we can work

with that really well. But can we hold that? Can we contain it?

The non-directive stance of the psychotherapist. Only 2% of patient transcripts analyzed revealed this as valuable, but

it was emphasized as important in nearly a quarter of psychotherapist transcripts analyzed.

One patient said:

I’ve had to find a lot of the answers myself…(The psychotherapist) hasn’t given me the answers, even

though I’ve really wanted her to sometimes…she’s allowed me to find them and she’s supported me…

That’s been good, but the process has been tough.

Among psychotherapists, this stance of the psychotherapist in psychoanalytic psychotherapy was described as a

critical facilitative aspect of therapeutic technique in terms of “remaining neutral”

 

“resisting the desire for answers”

 

“collaborative relationship”

 

“didn't make me feel like I was doing

all the work”

 

“gradual”

 

“growing”

 

“trust”

 

“sense of relief”

 

“most trusting”

 

“talk about anything rather than limiting (them-

selves) to a certain sort of common interest”

 

“changing”

 

“recognised”

 

“supported”

 

“…so many more different

perspectives… (on) this muddle that you can't quite work out”

 

“…only dissect something to a certain degree”

 

“I think just talking about it to someone

who understands makes it a lot better – easier - and it makes sense why he understands…”

 

“valuable distance”

 

“…about other things…but just about the work”

 

“maintaining neutrality”

 

“being mindful…of how patient

material can tap…into your own world (and) experiences”

 

“I kind of trust her judg-

ment because she has been committed…I've never really felt like she's been disengaged…”

 

“spirit of…non-judgmentalness”

 

“gentle…subtle…non-judgmental process…”

 

“…long commitment”

 

“hard

work-wise”

 

“made the commitment to do it”

 

“…I'll be well and truly fixed by 2 years”

 

“not going to happen fast”

 

“relief”

 

“relax into”

 

“quick fix”

 

“the building blocks to work with progressing, going in the direction that I want…but…I need more

therapy than two years…maybe another two more years”

 

“She's

the sort of person I can't imagine finishing with at the end of two years”

 

“internal unsettledness”

 

“shift of geography…a different room…different location”

 

“It's not as if it's a simple and seamless move…letting go of the work here and the mourning

that begins…It's very emotional and risks some falling apart”

 

“Does it? I don’t think so!”

 

“I've thought of dropping out because of the cost…I haven't always felt that I can afford it

so that's been quite hard going too. It's been a lot of pressure really”

 

“ages to drive from where I live…

traffic sometimes meant I was late…”

 

“It’s partly my issue … I want this quick fix… I want her to have the answers…’You are the expert- you do have an answer!’”

 

“doing the psychotherapy”

 

“inter-

minable”

 

“good outcome”

 

“It was hard work every session”

 

“It was like having half of the patient in therapy”