Narrative Derivatives of Alpha Elements: Clinical Implications

The author considers both the psychoanalytic field and the ways in which the characters of a psychoanalytic session can be understood. He then develops one of Bion's ideas, the dream in the waking state, by isolating the derivatives of such dreams or rather the alpha elements they consist of. The author implies a theory of technique which takes account of all the signals "the bi-personal field" gives the analyst about the functioning of the analytic couple by means of "narrative derivatives". This enables continual changes to be made in interpretation