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would be responses by the analyst that would encourage further elaboration. Perhaps the analyst’s office is on a lower floor of a building – this might represent deep structures, the unconscious, delving ‘down’ to archaic layers, or realizing buried affects. Rather than interpreting these images to find the ‘right’ meaning, the analyst might respond by adding to the associations with a response such as, “The unconscious is deep.” This type of response is considered “unsaturated” in the sense that it remains ambiguous, does not specify particular contents (especially those related to the analysand’s history), and allows the patient to take the prompt in any direction s/he may choose. Another example might include a particular ‘prop,’ such as a wooden paddle. The analyst may simply repeat the name of the prop in an effort to wonder what might be added. The analysand could respond by adding an historical reference, such as, “My mother whollopped me once.” Maintaining a diffuse attentional set, the analyst would attend to what the analysand adds but also notice any internal reveries that may be occurring within her/him. Perhaps the analyst thinks of the woodenness of the paddle, the hardness of the handle, leading the analyst think about the analysand’s anger or potential to be unfeeling. Then another image may arise, perhaps a Flamenco dancer with straight, ‘hard’ arms placed above her head, and an angry expression on her face. This process would continue throughout the session, with the express intention to elaborate the unconscious associations and expand the analysand’s ability to play with metaphoric, associational imagery. Within the interpersonal-relational perspective, Stern’s expansion of ‘relational freedom’ (Stern 2013c) with loosening and relaxing of the interpersonal field, that creates a possibility of emergence of new experiences, belongs to the diffuse attention set. However, in Stern’s conceptualization, the key event often precedes new verbal understanding, including interpretation, even if the verbal interpretation is unbidden and may appear as though it is the source of the therapeutic action. III. Ac. Attentional Sets and Forms of Transference According to Celenza, differences among technical stances can also be viewed by identifying which type of transference is being realized . Prioritizing a directed attentional set is well-suited to evoke and explore a repetitious transference identified by Freud (1916-17). These are constituted by the projection of figures of the primary objects of love, hate, and identification and the effort at historical reconstruction. Alternatively, transferences constituted by projective identificatory mechanisms in the moment, creating a pathology of the field (Baranger, Baranger and Mom, 1983), initially engage a diffuse attentional set. This allows unconscious emanations to become manifest. These may warrant interpretive clarification, and then, the so-called “second look” (Baranger, Baranger and Mom, 1983, p. 2) engages a more causal, directed attentional set as the analyst identifies a possible enactment through projective identificatory mechanisms (Baranger, Baranger and Mom, 1983; Cassorla 2001, 2005). These then can be identified and interpreted in line with other forms of defense analysis.
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