Behind the Couch: Revelations of a Psychoanalyst

Psychoanalysts often symbolize a parent figure to patients who frequently experience the same intense curiosity about their private livesespecially regarding sexthat they felt about their own parents, suggest psychoanalyst Strean and coauthor Freeman (Freud and Women, etc.). In an attempt to satisfy this curiosity and present psychoanalysts as human beings, the authors stress that the complex therapist-patient relationship requires that the analyst, instead of intruding, remain quiet and anonymous to afford the patient maximum freedom of expression, association and opportunity to face unresolved conflicts. However, they add, the therapist should empathize even with hostile or amorous patients who may stir their own emotions and memories. Strean demonstrates how, in order to help his patients, he first had to face his own personal problems and recall sometimes painful experiences, which enabled him to effectively identify with their problems, thereby strengthening the unconscious communication between analysand and analyst. (May)