Winners and Losers in a Dramatic Dialogue

Abstract

ABSTRACT Atlas’s discussion argues that it is not only our conscious, but mainly our unconscious narcissistic and self-serving needs that prevent us from making productive use of uncomfortable countertransference experiences. It illustrates how privileging conscious awareness might repeat the same problem of keeping us in places that are too comfortable, especially when dealing with aggression and sexuality. Atlas presents a framework which highlights the generative function of enactment and emphasizes the ways analysts inevitably find themselves involved in dramatic dialogues as part of each and every treatment.