The Elusive Concept of the Psychoanalytic Process

Although the term psychoanalytic process is frequently used, there is no consensual definition of its meaning. Some authors use it to designate a recognizable set of experiences within psychoanalysis. Others, a majority, use it as a synonym for the entire psychoanalytic experience, describing in detail what analysts do to achieve their goals. A range of views may be found between these extremes. A distinction is drawn here between the structure and content of the psychoanalytic process, which is regarded as a specific, definable entity—a red thread—within the psychoanalytic treatment experience as a whole, consisting of a microprocess and a macroprocess. The former is predominantly an amalgam of the patient's and the analyst's highly subjective experiences and entanglements, while the latter is predominantly an amalgam of the infantile and childhood origin of the patient's difficulties, as well as the analyst's conception of these difficulties based on a preferred theory. These ideas are used to formulate a definition of the psychoanalytic process based on clinical experience and are traced here primarily through lessons learned from a patient, Mr. K, over the course of a long and arduous analysis

Process (computing) · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Computer Science · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy

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• Paul H. Ornstein, MD (1924–2017)

  Jeffrey K Halpern•The International Journal of…•2019

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• Contemporary American psychoanalysis

  Joseph Schachter•Psychoanalytic Psychology•2005

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• Hallmarks of the Adaptive Approach

  Robert Langs•Psychoanalytic Psychology•2005

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• Conflict in Contemporary Clinical Work

  Open Access•Anna Ornstein, Paul H Ornstein•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2005

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• Defining analytic process

  Richard Tuch•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2025

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• The analyst’s countertransference to the psychoanalytic process

  Open Access•Michael Parsons•The International Journal of…•2006

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• Psychoanalytic Theory and the Psychoanalytic Process

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• Scientific Proceedings—Panel Report

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• The Psychoanalytic Process and Its Components

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• A Contribution to the Analysis of the Psychoanalytic Process

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• Psychoanalytic Process

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• A Phobia of the Couch

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• Conceptualizations of the Psychoanalytic Process

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• Current Concepts Of The Psychoanalytic Process

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• Psychoanalytic Process and Interactive Phenomena

  Open Access•Robert S White•Journal of the American…•1996

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• Psychoanalysis and Exploratory Psychotherapy

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• The Annual of Psychoanalysis

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• The Patient and the Analyst

  Barney Greenspan, Joseph Sandler et al.•The Family Coordinator•1975

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