Roles in the Psychoanalytic Relationship

Who we are depends on the situation we are in. Psychoanalysis, like any other recurrent social activity, is conducted under the influence of implicit social roles. Our technical emphasis on free association and other unstructured aspects of the analytic setup tends to minimize awareness of the degree to which both analyst and patient orient around role expectations. The analyst's role is the result of enculturation during training and after; the patient's role is a product of character, transference, and analytic influence. This paper explores the way in which the alternation and tension between role and nonrole aspects of the psychoanalytic relationship is at the center of therapeutic process and change. The author illustrates the way in which role and nonrole aspects of process appear in a case study, both over longer stretches of time and in particular moments. Understanding the importance of analytic roles clarifies some dilemmas and contradictions in older discussions of technique and modern relational theory.