How do clinicians and patients bear the spark of consciousness that the analytic encounter can generate when we know that full integration is elusive and slow? The slow circling of a complex can be frustrating; the defensive regressions can be demoralizing; and the envious attacks can be exasperating. This conversation will address various strategies to help the therapist hold these reactions and discuss ways of thinking about these painful encounters as necessary precursors in the service of individuation. For clinicians only.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe some of the ways in which envious and defensive attacks can hinder analytic progress;
- Describe coping strategies for the therapist when confronted with frustration, boredom, regression, and envious attacks.
