Democratizing psychoanalysis

Abstract

The complex shape of wanted (and feared) forms of relating by an individual analysand emerges in the therapy relationship. In the reconfiguring of the meaning of the therapy relationship, the analyst is not an outsider, observing the impact of the analysand's various forms of longing and defences but is inevitably drawn into and is an active participant in the relational field. Therapeutic neutrality and therapeutic stance are therefore reconceptualized, as are other issues that could be considered contentious, such as the blank screen, self-disclosure, the analyst's use of the countertransference, interpretation, power in the therapy relationship, dependency and money.