Problems of Psychoanalytic Technique in Freud and Lacan

Book excerpt: Problems of Psychoanalytic Technique in Freud and Lacan contributes to the everyday work of contemporary psychoanalysts through a critical examination of psychoanalytic technique.Bruno Bonoris revisits and questions key concepts, including free association, evenly suspended attention, transference, interpretation, and construction, with reference to Freud, Lacan, and the work of contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and psychoanalysts. The book considers four fundamental questions about the notion of “text” in order to rethink psychoanalytic technique, elucidating essential technical concepts while also introducing important modifications. Bonoris recovers the pragmatic spirit of early literature on psychoanalytic technique, oriented toward everyday clinical problems, using simple but powerful language with the added conceptual rigor of Lacan's ideas. Problems of Psychoanalytic Technique in Freud and Lacan is essential reading for students of, and trainees in, psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic studies. It is also of interest to readers who wish to learn more about psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapies.