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September 21, 2009
8:30 pm
Seventh C. Philip Wilson, MD, Memorial Lecture
Listening, Dreaming, Sharing: On the Uses of the Analyst's Inner Experiences
Lecturer: Theodore J. Jacobs, MD
Location: Einhorn Auditorium of Lenox Hill Hospital – 131 East 76th Street
Summary
In this paper, the author discusses the contribution that the analyst's subjective experiences make to effective analytic listening, to the development of empathy, and to the process of attunement in the analytic situation. He argues that effective listening requires more than evenly hovering attention. It is an active process that entails the analyst being in touch with and making use of his or her thoughts, fantasies, feelings and bodily responses that are aroused by the patient's unconcious communications, as well as by those that are contained in the overt analytic material. By way of illustration, the author describes the use of an expanded version of Isakower's concept of the analytic instrument to demonstrate how active awareness and use of the metacommunications that flow beneath the surface of the analytic dialogue enhances the listening process, close attunement to the patient's communications, and contributes to the experience of empathy. He also cites a clinical example to raise the possibility that, in some cases, the analyst's sharing some of his or her subjective experiences in sessions may promote both a stronger therapeutic alliance and the development of insights that heretofore were not attainable
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