The presence of passivity and analytic technique

The notion of passivity, whose definition covers a vast domain in psycho-analysis, nevertheless appears to intervene according to three principle conceptual registers : the elementary one of the activity-passivity pole on the level of the drive, that of intrapsychic conflictuality and inter subjectivity on a relational level, and that of the subject's receptivity (analysant and analyst), of which it constitutes a fundamental factor. With the development of analytic technique, it has been suggested that one should identify the different implications of passivity, notably in the functioning of the analysant-analyst dyad: the link with the interpretative activity, the dimension of countertransference and the mental functioning of the analyst.