Unconscious fantasies, structural theory, and compromise formation

Although the existence of unconscious fantasies is an empirical assumption, in the clinical situation unconscious fantasies are treated as if they have a concrete existence. Unconscious fantasies form intermediate links in causal chains of which clinical observations constitute one end, and the components of unconscious conflicts, the other. Like all clinical material, fantasies may be affected by actual experiences; they may also be revised, layered, and can function to alter and disguise other fantasies as well as provide gratification. From a technical standpoint, it is most important to analyze their constituents and to adduce their primary purposes in the clinical situation of the moment. The nature of the evidence that identifies the presence of particular unconscious fantasies is discussed. Although a single analytic session is presented by way of illustration, I am convinced that the analyst's entire understanding of the patient inevitably channels his or her interpretive focus on the associational material of each analytic hour.     

The psychoanalytic process: motives and obstacles in the search for clarification

One motive for regarding psychoanalysis as a "process," and for attempting to define its exact nature, is to enable analysts to clarify their criteria for distinguishing authentic psychoanalysis from other therapies that resemble it or are derived from it. In the present climate of theoretical pluralism, any list of defining qualities that could win wide acceptance would of necessity be cast in terms of such general quality as to limit its utility as a precise template. Another motive for holding on to the "process" concept arises from the unpredictable nature of analytic progress in even the most satisfactory cases.     

Unconscious fantasy and theories of cure

It has long been known that patients' wishes for cure by analysis give expression to unconscious wishes for instinctual gratification which originate in childhood mental life. Patients sometimes develop theories about how they believe analysis attains its ends; these are likely to affect the way they behave in the analytic situation, and analysis of them may therefore constitute an important contribution to progress in the analysis. Two illustrative cases are presented; in both, the unconscious determinants of the patients' theories turn out to be infantile sexual fantasies connected with their uncon scious wishes for instinctual satisfaction. It is further suggested that analogous unconscious fantasies also influence the theories of analysts and other therapists about how analysis works. In some instances these factors, while not affecting theory formation explicitly, may, without being recognized as doing so, contribute to decisions regarding the modification of analytic technique. Awareness of that possibility may aid analysts in assessing the indications for such proposed modifications.     

In Retrospect: Reflections on a Psychoanalytic Career

This account of the author's psychoanalytic education and the subsequent evolution of his theoretical and technical beliefs emphasizes his sustained attachment to classical Freudian principles. The refinement of his views consequent to his close friendship and collaboration with Charles Brenner is described. In recent years, his study of the work of certain colleagues who are exponents of other psychoanalytic points of view has resulted in some modulation of his technical stance, without altering his fundamental convictions about the nature of the psychoanalytic enterprise.     

Analyzing intrapsychic conflict: compromise formation as an organizing principle

The author highlights the idea that analysts' recognition of intrapsychic conflict and compromise formation provides them with a most effective way to formulate their patients' problems. A clinical illustration is presented, with attention to the analyst's use of these concepts during the course of the patient's treatment. The author discusses ways in which his thinking about intrapsychic conflict, compromise formation, and unconscious fantasy informs his approach to clinical work. He emphasizes that viewing compromise formation as the organizing principle of much of mental life gives analysts an effective way to understand the underlying structure of the psychic phenomena in which they are interested.