Suggestion and psychoanalytic technique

The role of the analyst's suggestive influence on the course and outcome of psychoanalytic treatment is explored, and traditional and newer perspectives on analytic technique are contrasted. The intersubjective critique of the neutral, objective analyst in relation to suggestion is examined. The inevitable presence and need for suggestive factors in analysis, and the relationship of suggestion to transference susceptibility, are emphasized. The manner in which the analysis of suggestive factors is subsumed in transference analysis as part of traditional technique is highlighted.     

The technique of psychoanalytic therapy

This article is reproduced in translation a half century after its original presentation by Dr. Horney. It was her first psychoanalytic publication and her first article on psychoanalytic technique. In it we get glimpses of future directions of her thinking and of the spirit of research and investigation which so characterized her life's work — Editor.     

Therapeutic strategy and psychoanalytic technique

The role of therapeutic strategy within psychoanalytic technique is described. An antistrategic bias inherent in certain aspects of the "classical" technique is explored in relation to the historical development of psychoanalysis. Clinical expertise, which includes the making of strategic or tactical choices, is relegated to the "unofficial," due in part to this negative bias impeding the study of technical differences in favor of general agreement about a theory of technique that may differ considerably from actual clinical work. A case is presented that illustrates strategic choices in the management of a severe character resistance in a supervised analysis. Some consequences of a negative bias against therapeutic strategy as it relates to psychoanalytic training is described.     

Regression and psychoanalytic technique: the concretization of a concept

An exploration of the regression concept historically and conceptually reveals that its familiarity and frequent use have resulted in decreasing conceptual clarity and precision. Rooted in an outmoded fixation-regression model of development and psychopathology, the concept has become concretized. This paper is a beginning exploration of problematic aspects of the concept of regression, with emphasis on potentially detrimental consequences for psychoanalytic technique that derive from its unexamined use. Some of the salient issues are illustrated with clinical examples.