The role of the psychoanalyst

The task of the psychotherapist is to help the patient to recall, isolate and reintegrate unconscious contents in such a way that the ordinary life of the patient can bring him greater satisfaction. Freud says:
“We take an oath from him to obey the fundamental rule of psychoanalysis, which is that from now on we will have to regulate his behavior. He should tell us not only what he can deliberately and readily give, which gives him a feeling of relief, like at a confession, but everything that still comes to mind, even if it is unpleasant for him to talk about it, even if it seems unimportant or actually meaningless "

The psychoanalyst relies on these discoveries, not criticizing, not endorsing them in essence. The psychoanalyst does not take a moral position, but serves as a clean screen, reflecting the views of patients. The therapist tries not to show his personal relationship with the patient. This gives the patient the freedom to deal with the psychoanalyst in a variety of ways, transferring attitudes, views, even physical characteristics that really belonged to people with whom the patient has communicated with in the past.

This transfer is decisive in the psychotherapeutic process, as it translates past events into a new context that favors their understanding. For example, if a patient begins to treat a male therapist as his father, outwardly submissive and respectful, and in a veiled form hostile and disrespectful, the psychoanalyst may explain these feelings to the patient. He may draw attention to the fact that it is not he, the therapist, who causes these feelings, but they arise in the patient herself and may reflect aspects of her relationship with her father that she once repressed.

“In order to resist this comprehensive attack by the patient, the psychoanalyst needs to fully and completely analyze himself ... A psychoanalyst on whom the fate of many people depends must know and control even the most difficult to eradicate his own character; and this is impossible without a complete psychoanalysis. "
“The concept of transference ... argues that observing, understanding and discussing patients' emotional reactions to the psychoanalytic situation establishes the most direct ways to achieve an understanding of the structure of his character, and therefore his problems. It becomes the most powerful and truly necessary tool for psychoanalytic therapy. ”

The transfer makes psychotherapy a living process. Instead of only talking about life, the patient forms a critical relationship with the psychotherapist. To help the patient create these connections, the psychoanalyst interprets some of what the patient says, suggesting the presence of links that may have been, and may not have been, previously recognized by the patient. This process of interpretation is the product of intuition and clinical experience.

In a psychoanalytic procedure, the patient is encouraged to never suppress unconscious content. Freud saw psychoanalysis as a natural process; the energy that was suppressed slowly passes into an area of ​​consciousness where it can be used by the cultivating ego: “Whenever we succeed in analyzing a symptom in its basis, releasing the drive from one dependence, it does not remain isolated, but immediately enters a new addiction". The task of the psychotherapist is to identify, explain, and separate the constituent elements of drives that are denied or distorted by the patient. "Psychosynthesis is thus achieved during the analytical treatment without our intervention, automatically and consistently." The transformation of old, unhealthy habits and the establishment of new, healthier occurs without the invasion of the psychotherapist.