THE PSYCHOANALYST IN THE CONSULTATION SER VICE

The specific circumstances of the setting in psychosomatic consultatio n require a special technique in dealing with patients and with the in stitution, This technique enables us, to take advantage of the psychoa nalytic approach, The following contribution is a personal report abou t how to reach psychodynamic understanding of the patient under the se emingly unfavourable conditions of a clinic. The author assumes that t he patient performs the conflicts and strains, that are relevant for h is illness, in the for him available space of the hospital with his pe rsonal objects, The consultant perceives this, so to speak, as on an i nternal and external stage. In such a way he can arrive at a deeper un derstanding of the patient.