VARIETIES OF PSYCHOANALYTIC EXPERIENCE: LESSONS FROM RETURNING PATIENTS

P sychoanalytic discourse often describes an ideal course of analy-sis, one that then becomes a norm for analysts and analytic discus-sion. It is well to remind ourselves that this ideal, or norm, developed first when Freud was conducting analyses in six months or a year, and believed that familiarity with unconscious process would be curative. Our idea that an analysis has a predictable course, a completeness in address-ing conflict, and a decisive termination stems from these early days. Contemporary discussions of crises and impasses in treatment, along with recognition of enactments and countertransference in general, have enriched our picture, just as Freud did in “Analysis Terminable and Interminable ” (1937). Investigations of the actual course of patients in and following analysis through follow-up has added further to creating a real understanding of where analytic experience may fit into patients’ lives (Schachter 2009; Wallerstein 1986). A recent invitation to report on my experience with psychoanalytic patients who returned for more treatment later on, and the lessons