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Correspondence

Correspondence The American Iournal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 54, No. 4, 1994 WISDOM AND ANALYTIC RELATEDNESS To the Editor: I found the article Exploratory Thoughts on Wisdom, Intimacy, and Analytic Re- latedness by Naomi Rucker in the March 1994 issue lAmer. J. Psychoanal. 54(1 ):77-85] very unsettling. The author argues that the therapeutic action of psy- choanalysis is integrally related to the success of the analyst's active effort to estab- lish an intimacy with her patient in which she may impart some of her presumed life wisdom. This intimacy is defined, in part, as "emotional reciprocity . . . the sharing of one's inner self, feelings of attachment" (p. 81). This sounds to me very similar to what would transpire were the analyst to attempt to form an extra-ana- lytic friendship with her patient, except that the author subsequently states, "1 do not advocate anything as simplistic or specific as self-disclosure, physical involve- ment with patients, or the like." Unfortunately, after arousing such doubts and confusions, the author never clarifies exactly what it is she does mean. My most optimistic interpretation of these ideas is that the author is simply reiterating what good analysts have always known and practiced (current stereotypes http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Correspondence

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References (2)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1994 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF02741945
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American Iournal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 54, No. 4, 1994 WISDOM AND ANALYTIC RELATEDNESS To the Editor: I found the article Exploratory Thoughts on Wisdom, Intimacy, and Analytic Re- latedness by Naomi Rucker in the March 1994 issue lAmer. J. Psychoanal. 54(1 ):77-85] very unsettling. The author argues that the therapeutic action of psy- choanalysis is integrally related to the success of the analyst's active effort to estab- lish an intimacy with her patient in which she may impart some of her presumed life wisdom. This intimacy is defined, in part, as "emotional reciprocity . . . the sharing of one's inner self, feelings of attachment" (p. 81). This sounds to me very similar to what would transpire were the analyst to attempt to form an extra-ana- lytic friendship with her patient, except that the author subsequently states, "1 do not advocate anything as simplistic or specific as self-disclosure, physical involve- ment with patients, or the like." Unfortunately, after arousing such doubts and confusions, the author never clarifies exactly what it is she does mean. My most optimistic interpretation of these ideas is that the author is simply reiterating what good analysts have always known and practiced (current stereotypes

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 1994

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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