Back to Table of Contents
as well as broadening of the subject matter of the free associations to encourage the analysands to put into words bodily sensations, images, dreams, memories, and references to the analyst. This follows a long-standing trend of ‘widening the range’ of associative material to access the earliest developmental preverbal experiences of emotional and relational significance, to increase clinical understanding of ‘pre-object relations’, and to maximize restoration of psychic continuity. An important reciprocal free associative activity on the part of the analyst, conceptualized variably as free-floating attention within the position of the analytic neutrality, an analytic instrument, or as a transformative alpha function to be internalized and creatively appropriated by the patient, has been acknowledged as a significant counter-part of the overall free associative process of the patient. With some exceptions, many proponents of various theoretical orientations within North American psychoanalysis, navigating the tension between tradition and innovation, view overriding continuous value in talking as freely as possible while developing curiosity and capacity for self-observation and reflection. It can provide a methodological structure for the analyst to maintain a balance between participation and observation, and it can enable patients to unite the task of exploring their inner world, ‘the workings of their mind’, with the experience and exploration of their multidimensional transformative interpersonal relation to the analyst. In Europe, contemporary psychoanalysis likewise still considers free association as part of the fundamental psychoanalytic procedure. However, a greater understanding of the primitive levels of the mind has led to a broadening of the content of free association, beyond words. It has also been stressed that free association is nothing more than a natural mental activity in everyday life, which, placed in the analytic framework, allows the inner world to be explored. Furthermore, the examination of the concept of free association can lead to seemingly contradictory paths when each of its constituent elements is scrutinised independently: association and free . To "associate" entails linking or connecting, whereas the term 'free' (and spontaneous) has the sense of that which does not establish connections. This apparent paradox is resolved if one appreciates that "free association" is unconsciously determined. Freud's incipient idea that free association is inextricably linked to the analyst's ‘free- floating evenly hovering attention’, and that therefore the psychoanalytic fundamental rule must include both elements, has also developed further. This perspective aligns coherently with contemporary psychoanalysis, which highlights the importance of the analyst's involvement in his relationship with the patient, and consequently, the need of recognition and exploration of his countertransference in order to understand the patient. In Latin America , the contemporary research confirms as well that the technical method of free association is still in force in every psychoanalytic process, albeit some of it has
422
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online