FREE ASSOCIATION AND ANALYTIC NEUTRALITY - THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THEPSYCHOANALYTIC SITUATION

This paper re-examines within a contemporary context an essential foun dation of classical technique, the psychoanalytic situation. Defined i n terms of basic elements of psychoanalytic relatedness which make pos sible the most profound exploration of human motivation, its core stru cture is viewed as an extraordinary interpersonal arrangement anchored by two clearly differentiated yet complimentary ways of relating: fre e-association and analytic neutrality. The patient's role, organized b y the prerequisites of expressive freedom, is counter posed with the p sychoanalyst's, which is structured to empower listening and understan ding. Elaborating the parameters of this unique relationship, the auth ors emphasize the synergic effects of each participants' activity in c reating a vehicle for destabilizing neurotic equilibrium. An extensive discussion of analytic neutrality, conceived as guiding ideal that in forms all the analyst's attitudes and actions in the exploration of ps ychic reality, is presented. Specifically, the authors distinguish thr ee essential dimensions which bear upon the interactive process: neutr ality with regard to conflict, neutrality with regard to sequence, and neutrality with regard to transference. In contrast to the rigid cons traint on human responsiveness often caricatured in the literature, th is vision of technical neutrality establishes its vital contribution t o the integrity, depth, and tone of any analytic process that unfolds.