THE IMPLICIT ANALYST: QUALITIES OF SALIENCE

More than fifty years ago, in "The Curative Factors in Psycho-Analysis," Sacha Nacht wrote, "It is what the analyst is rather than what he says that matters" (his emphasis). This article focuses on what I believe is the main thrust of Nacht's statement: the analyst's personal attributes, her ways of relating formed by her organizing principles that operate at an implicit, procedural level, manifesting in what we recognize in common parlance as her personality. Eight specific, implicit qualities of the analyst's personality are delineated, which, from my subjective perspective, are salient for psychotherapy and which may, or may not, find common ground with other practitioners as well, regardless of the analyst's theoretical persuasion. Perspectives on salience will be different from analyst to analyst, although I believe not entirely different, given that we are all members of the human phylogeny. This article is not prescriptive; the qualities identified reflect my personal perspective of implicit qualities of the analyst beneficial to psychotherapy. As well, some tenets of psychoanalytic training and theory that may facilitate these qualities are discussed.