Abstract
Concepts of “adaptive context” and “holding environment” serve as a foundation from which to address the impact of typical outpatient psychotherapy clinic settings on the process of psychoanalytic therapy. Issues of transference and resistance, treatment boundaries, professional investment, and the patients' and therapists' perceptions of the therapy process are primary areas of consideration. The depth, intensity, and power of psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy is seen as potentially limited by the structure and policies to which clinic settings tend to adhere. Circumstances in private practice are used as a point of comparison and suggestions are made to minimize treatment complications.
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References
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Rucker, N.G., Slater, E.T. Outpatient clinic structure as a complication to psychoanalytically-oriented treatment. Clin Soc Work J 11, 280–289 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00755810
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00755810