Free Association Continues

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lothane’s description of the development of free association from Galton’s one-person perspective through Freud’s use of both one- and two-person perspectives is outstanding. He characterizes free association as emphasizing the unconscious communication between both analyst and patient. I agree with his position and my discussion illustrates how both analyst and patient unconsciously prime each other to create the therapeutic process. The process can be lively and dramatic, and Lothane’s understanding of the importance of drama has led him to develop the term dramatology to describe the ongoing therapeutic drama that is created in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy as part of this unconscious communication of feeling. The concept of free association continues to develop through these new concepts of how the communication of feeling and knowledge take place unconsciously. I then suggest an even larger field of influence of both patient and analyst that includes unconscious communication of uncanny knowledge that will at times create anomalous experiences. The crucial factor for a good outcome seems to be the depth of the emotional engagement between patient and analyst.