Between Classic Interpretation and Analytic Presence: Discussion of Elizabeth Seward’s Paper

Abstract

This discussion compares interventions that are derived from reverie, bodily sensations, and dreams, with traditional transference interpretations. Using Seward’s clinical vignettes, the author delineates subtle differences between projective identification, enactments, and the selfobject function. She suggests that body-mind-self experiences of the analyst bring the selfobject function to its most precise position. Furthermore, she argues that evocation of images, body sensations, and disclosed dreams are, in fact, interpretations and that such interventions do not strive to generate repetitions but to promote potential space and openness to disavowed areas of the mind. These interventions, says the author, are not better than traditional verbal interpretations or more correct but sometimes simply more useful to the patient.