CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF THE PSYCHOANALYTIC PROCESS

A demonstrable psychoanalytic process involves elaborate and sustained intrapsychic experiences and phenomena for both analysand and analyst. It also includes a complex and at times subtle interpersonal relationship in which each participant is actively sensitive and responsive to verbal and nonverbal input from the other. These interpersonal experiences stimulate further intrapsychic responses which in turn may have further interpersonal effects. Within the framework of the psychoanalytic situation, these combined intrapsychic and interpersonal responses lead first to facilitative and ultimately to definitive changes in the patient's psychological organization and function. A method for demonstrating a psychoanalytic process is described.