This chapter focuses on the all-important step from the initial interview to therapy, complementing the corresponding chapter in Vol.1. This step can be demonstrated particularly clearly with regard to those patients who are often considered unsuited for psychoanalysis or analytic therapy. (91 pgs)

The rules are put to a test when the analyst pursues the question of whether the system of rules provides a given patient the best possible conditions for therapeutic change. The issue of the utility of rules is a good starting point for using them in a flexible manner, i.e., one in which they are applied in a manner appropriate to the individual patient, and for guiding the dialogue toward therapeutic goals (83 pgs)

We discuss the important issues of scheduling, remembering and retaining and of anniversary reactions from the perspective of time and place; the reconstruction of the historical and political factors that exert an influence on an individual’s life history; study of interpretations; a discussion of acting out; the topic of working through; and interruptions of treatment (accompanied by particular problems up until the final separation).(104 pgs)

The research into the process and outcome of psychoanalysis that we have initiated in Ulm has developed out of our experience with systematic case studies (Thomä 1978) and the investigation of interpretative actions.(121 pgs)

In this chapter we will familiarize our readers with specific problems that are of great practical significance. (45 pgs)

Dream interpretation enables analysts to get close to unconscious fantasies. The interpretations lead to the latent, i.e., the unconscious meaning of the dream. To be precise, then, the interpretation and not the dream itself is the via regia to the unconscious. (41 pgs)

We regard the initial interview as the first opportunity for the psychoanalytic method to be adapted to the particular circumstances of the individual patient. The first encounters carry a heavy burden of responsibility. The information which must be gained in just a few meetings will be incomplete and unreliable. (63 pgs)

The meaning of rules derives from their interpersonal acceptance. In fact, one important function of rules is to enable an intersubjective exchange to take place. This is particularly true in psychoanalysis. A uniform framework ensures that findings are comparable, etc., thus enabling standardization of the psychoanalytic process (Bachrach 1983). (51 pgs)

Time and Place

Psychoanalytic Heuristics

Specific and Nonspecific Means

Transference Interpretations and Reality

Silence

Acting Out

Working Through

Learning and Restructuring

Termination

(101 pp.)

The following sections contain discussions of the function of process models and of the features essential for evaluating them, and a description of various conceptions of the process, including our own.(32 pgs)