Abstract
This exploration of the extra-analytic moment focuses on the analyst’s affective experience of encountering her patient outside the boundaries of the consulting room. Two complex interactions are presented in which the analyst is challenged to confront known and unknown aspects of herself and negotiate her next move. The authors discuss the value of examining oneself beyond the traditional boundaries, and highlight the potential for personal and professional growth in moments when the analyst’s fallibility and humanity are unwittingly revealed. In allowing the unpredictable to become less of an unwanted event and more of an opportunity to express that which makes us human, our analytic work is enriched.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aron, L. (1991). The patient’s experience of the analyst’s subjectivity. In: S.A. Mitchell & L. Aron (Eds.), Relational psychoanalysis: the emergence of a tradition (pp. 243–267). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Aron L. (1996). A meeting of minds: mutuality in psychoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Arons G., & Siegel R. (1995). Unexpected encounters: The Wizard of Oz Exposed. In: Sussman M.B. (Ed.) A perilous calling, the hazard of psychotherapy practice (pp. 125–138). New York: John Wiley & Sons
Ben Avi A. (1977). On becoming an analyst. In: Frank K.A. (Ed.) The human dimension in psychoanalytic practice (pp. 165–179). New York: Grune & Stratton
Crowley R.M. (1952). Human reactions of analysts to patients. In: Stern D.B., Mann C.H., Kantor S., & Schlesinger G. (Eds.) Pioneers of interpersonal psychoanalysis (pp. 73–81). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Ehrenberg D.B. (1992) The intimate edge. New York: Norton
Fiscalini J. (1994) The uniquely interpersonal an interpersonally unique. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 30, 114–134
Frawley-O’Dea M.G. (2003) When the trauma is terrorism and the therapist is traumatized too: Working as an analyst since 9/11. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 1, 67–89
Freud S. [1915] (1963). Instincts and their vicissitudes. Standard Edition, 14, 109–140
Ganzarin R.G. (1991) Extra-analytic contacts: Fantasy and reality. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 72, 131–140
Gerson B. (1996). Introduction. In: Gerson B. (ed.), The therapist as a person (pp. xiii–xxiii). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Gody D. (1996). Chance encounters: Unintentional therapist disclosure. Psychoanalytic Psychology 13(4): 495–511
Gold J.H. (1993) Introduction. In: Gold J.H., Nemiah J.C. (eds.), Beyond transference: When the therapist’s real life intrudes. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC, pp.ix–xii
Grey C. (1991). The candidate’s quest: An interpersonal perspective on the training years [monograph]. The Psychoanalyst, the Interplay of Work and Identity 1: 76–87
Hirsch I. (2000). Interview with Benjamin Wolstein. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 36: 187–232
Hirsch I. (2003a). Reflections on clinical issues in the context of the national trauma of September 11. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 39: 665–681
Hirsch I. (2003b). Analysts’ observing-participation with theory. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 72: 217–240
Hoffman I. (1983). The patient as interpreter of the analyst’s experience. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 18: 389–422
Hoffman I. (1983). The intimate authority of the psychoanalyst’s presence. Psychoanalytic Psychology 13: 15–23
Hoffman I. (1994). Dialectical thinking and therapeutic action in the psychoanalytic process. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 63: 187–199
Hoffman I. (1998). Ritual and spontaneity in the psychoanalytic process. Hillsdale, NJ, The Analytic Press
Horner A.J. (1993). Occupational hazards and characterological vulnerability: The problem of “burnout”. American Journal of Psychoanalysis 53: 137–142
Mendelsohn E. (1996). More human than otherwise. In: Gerson B. (ed.), The therapist as a person (pp. 21–40). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Messer B. (1991). The impact of being an analyst: Harmony and dissonance in personal life [monograph]. The Psychoanalyst, the Interplay of Work and Identity 1: 63–75
Modell A.H. (1991). The therapeutic relationship as a paradoxical experience. Psychoanalytic Dialogues 1: 13–28
Morrison A. (1996). Trauma and disruption in the life of the analyst: Enforced disclosure and disequilibrium. In: Gerson B. (ed) The therapist as a person pp. 41–45. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Novick J. (1982). Termination: Themes and issues. Psychoanalytic Inquiry 2: 329–365
Racker H. (1968). Transference and countertransference. International Universities Press, Inc., Madison CT
Rangell L. (1981). Some notes on the postanalytic phase. International Journal of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy 8: 165–170
Sands K. (2003). Psychoanalytic profiles: Jessica Benjamin. Psychologist–Psychoanalyst 23(Fall): 23–26
Schafer R. (1983). The analytic attitude. Basic Books, New York
Singer E. (1971). The patient aids the analyst: Some clinical and theoretical observations. In: Stern D.B., Mann C.H., Kantor S., Schlesinger G. (eds.), Pioneers of interpersonal psychoanalysis. The Analytic Press, Hillsdale NJ, pp. 155–168
Singer E. (1977). The fiction of analytic neutrality. In: Frank K. (ed.), The human dimension in psychoanalytic practice. Grune & Stratton, New York, pp. 181–192
Sullivan H.S. (1938). Editorial. Psychiatry, 1, 135–143
Sussman M.B. (1995). Introduction. In: Sussman B. (ed.), A perilous calling, the hazards of psychotherapy practice (pp. 1–12), New York: John Wiley & Sons
Tessman L. (2003). The analyst’s analyst within, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press
Turner V. (1969). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Aldine, Chicago
Ulman K.H. (2001). Unwitting exposure of the therapist. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice Research 10:(1), 14–22
Wachtel P. (1993). Therapeutic communication. Guilford Publications, New York
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the generous and insightful contributions of Drs. Lewis Aron, Nancy Edwards, Barbara Gerson, George Goldstein, and Irwin Hirsch.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Janet Rivkin Zuckerman, Ph.D., is Visiting Instructor at the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Adjunct Clinical Supervisor at the Derner Institute, Adelphi University, and Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University, and Faculty Member and Supervisor at The Center for Preventive Psychiatry, White Plains, New York.
Lisa Horelick, Psy.D., is Faculty Member and Supervisor at the Suffolk Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Adjunct Clinical Supervisor at the Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University, and Supervisor at the Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Derner Institute, Adelphi University, New York.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zuckerman, J.R., Horelick, L. The affective experience of the analyst in the extra-analytic moment. Am J Psychoanal 66, 351–371 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11231-006-9028-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11231-006-9028-0