The workable here and now and the why of there and then

Bibliographic Data

ID8971990
AuthorsFred Busch (0000-0002-1457-3198, 246 Eliot StreetChestnut Hill, MA 02467‐1447USA, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume92
Issue5
Pages1159-1181
Publication date2011-02-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-8315.2010.00375.x
PMID22014364
OpenAlexW1761642372
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited56

At an earlier time our work as analysts was easier. We searched for the repressed in order to make constructions that connected the past to the present symptoms. Making these connections conscious, based upon the continuing influence of the Topographic theory, was thought to be the curative factor in psychoanalysis. Freud (1912, 1914) briefly expressed the importance of working in the present but his main focus remained the importance of reconstructing the past. The importance of working in the present started to be fully articulated approximately 30 years ago, and has become a central part of most views on technique. However, it is the contention of this paper that, while there is general agreement on the necessity of working in the here and now, the understanding of what this means or why it is useful runs along parallel lines rather than leading to a central point. Further, it is my impression there is little agreement on the reasons for interpreting the there and then. The idea of a 'workable here and now' is introduced to capture how the here and now might best include the analysand's readiness to synthesize what is offered, while a theory of the necessity for working in the here and now and the there and then is offered

Business · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Order (exchange · Physics · Point (geometry · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Working through · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Mathematics · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications