INTERACTION AND TRANSFERENCE

The author begins by pointing out that, whereas in classical psychoana lysis the present was seen as an instrument affording access to the pa st, reconstruction of which would free the patient from the repetition compulsion, nowadays the past is regarded more as a means of throwing light on the present and the emphasis has shifted to the here and now , the unconscious meanings of which are elucidated by the analyst's ca reful monitoring of his own mental states. In transference analysis in the here and now, what is analysed today, in the current revised conc eption of the analyst's role, is the interaction between patient and a nalyst. The author notes that the concept of interaction did nor featu re in the theory and clinical practice of classical psychoanalysis, ac cording to which the analytic dialogue was supposed to be confined to verbal exchanges. Yet the interactive dimension is of course present i n the 'pragmatic' elements of the linguistic communication, whereby pa tient and analyst influence each other, and can be analysed by constan t, spontaneous unconscious-preconscious monitoring of the analytic rel ationship. Clinical material is presented to illustrate the examinatio n and we of the pragmatic aspects of the patient-analyst interaction. The analyst is shot-tin in the process of analysing the verbal interac tion as a background to interpretive activity, which is in this case i nterpretation of interaction.