Three principles of salience in the organization of the patient-analyst interaction

In this article we explore the proposal that infant research is applicable to adult treatment through organizational principles of interactive regulation. Three organizing principles derived from infant research are used to create metaphors and analogies for adult treatment. These 3 principles (ongoing regulation, disruption and repair, and heightened affective moments) constitute hypotheses about how analyst-patient interactions become patterned and salient. They can further specify modes of therapeutic action in adult treatment. Using the material of one case, we illustrate the therapeutic action of the 3 principles.