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451 views24 pagesFreud Analysis Terminable Interminable
The document is part of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, specifically Volume XX, which includes 'Moses and Monotheism' and 'An Outline of Psycho-Analysis.' It discusses Freud's paper 'Analysis Terminable and Interminable,' highlighting his skepticism about the therapeutic efficacy of psychoanalysis and the challenges it faces. Freud emphasizes the biological and physiological factors influencing psychoanalytic therapy and reflects on the limitations of treatment outcomes.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
451 views24 pagesFreud Analysis Terminable Interminable
The document is part of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, specifically Volume XX, which includes 'Moses and Monotheism' and 'An Outline of Psycho-Analysis.' It discusses Freud's paper 'Analysis Terminable and Interminable,' highlighting his skepticism about the therapeutic efficacy of psychoanalysis and the challenges it faces. Freud emphasizes the biological and physiological factors influencing psychoanalytic therapy and reflects on the limitations of treatment outcomes.
Uploaded by
dpolyak00Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
THE STANDARD EDITION
(OF THE COMPLETE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORKS OF
SIGMUND FREUD
Translated frm the German ner the General Etorship of
JAMES STRACHEY
Assisted by
ALIX STRACHEY and ALAN TYSON
VOLUME Xx
(4937-1959)
‘Moses and Monotheism
‘An Outline of Psycho-Analysis
ond
Other Works
THE HOGARTH PRESS
AND THE INSTITUTE OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
WH ANALYSIS TERMINABLE AND
INTER MINABLE
(1937) EDITOR'S NOTE
DIE ENDLICHE UND DIE UNENDLICHE ANALYSE
(2) Geax Eorroxs:
1937 Ju. 2 Pychoanal, 28 (2), 209-40.
1950 GV, 16, 39-99.
(0) Exouun Traxsuarion
“Analysis Terminable and Interminable”
1937 Iu. J. Pyelo-Anal, 18 (8), 373-405. (Tr. Joan Riviere.)
1950, CH, 5, 316-57. (Revised reprint of above.)
‘The present trandation is a modified version of the one
ppublished in 1950, ‘The last eight and a half paragraphs of
‘Section VI ofthe original German were reprinted in the automn
(of 1937 in Almanack der Prchoonayse 1938, 44-50,
‘This paper was written early in 1937 and published in June,
Teand the following one, on ‘Constructions in Analyst’ (19874),
‘were the last strictly peycho-analytic writings by Freud to be
brought out in his lifetime. Neasly twenty years had passed
since he had published a purely technical work, though quet=
tions of technique had, of course, been dealt with in hit other
writings,
Freud’s main earlier discussion of the workings of psycho-
analytic therapy was in Lectures XXVII and XXVIIL of the
Untrodctry Lectes (1916-17). He bad returned to the subject
‘very much more briefly in Lecture XXXIV of the New Ino-
ducioy Lectres (19332). Readers of these easier writings are
sometimes struck by what seem to be differences between the
present work and it predecesors, and these apparent diver-
‘gences call for examination.
‘The paper as a whole gives an impression of pessimism in
segard tothe therapeutic efcacy of psychoanalysis ts Timita-
‘tons are constantly stressed, the dificultes ofthe procedure and
the obstacles standing in its way aze insisted upon. These,
indeed, constitute its principal theme, In fact, however, there
2) a2 EDITOR'S NOTE
fc mathing revolutionary in thi, Peeud eas alwenys well aware
of the barriers to success in analysis and was always ready to
fnvestigate them. Moreover he was always eager to direct
stienton to the importance of the non-therapeutic interests of|
psycho-analysis, the direction in which lay his own personal
[references particularly in the later part of his life. Tt will be
Femembered that inthe shart dacussion of technique in the Naw
Tatradstory Lectures (19834) he wrote that he had “never been a
therapeutic enthusiast. (Standard Ed, 22, 151.) Thus there is
nothing unexpected in the cool attitde shown in this paper
‘wards the therapeutic ambitions of psycho-analysis or in the
numeration of the difficulties confronting it. What may per-
Ihaps cause more surprise are some features of Preud’s examina-
tion of the underlying nature and causes of those dificult.
tisnoticeable, inthe fist place, that the factors to which he
largely draws attention are of a physiological and biological
‘nature, They arethus in the main unniseeptble topsychological
influences. Such, for instance, are the relative ‘constitutional
strength ofthe instincts (p. 2242) and the relasive wealmess of
the ego owing to physiological caus
‘menopause, and physical lines (p. 226))But the mast powerful
Tape ‘nd one tally beyond any possibility
‘of control (to which some pages of the paper are
242 £1.) is the death instincefFreud here suggests that this is
ot only ie Be Rad pointed out in earlier writings, responsible
for much of the resistance met with in analy, but that itis
Actually the ultimate cause of conflict in the mind (p. 244). Tn.
all of this, however, there is once again nothing revolutionary.
Freud may be laying more stresi than usual on constitutional
factors among the dificulties confronting paycho-analyss, but
the had always recognized their importance
‘Nor are any’ of the three factors new which Freud selects
here a being ‘decisive’ for the access of our therapeutic efforts
(p. 228): the more favourable prognosis for eases of ‘traumatic?
sather than ‘constitutional origin, the importance of ‘quantita-
tive? considerations, and the question of an ‘alteration of the
go’, Leis on thie third point that vo much fresh light i thrown,
in the present paper. In earlier accounts of the therapeutic
process an exential place was always allotted to an alteration.
in the ego which was to be brought about by the analyst as &
preliminary to the undoing of the patient's represions. (See,
EDITOR'S NOTE, a3
{or instanes, the Aeseription in Lactnen XCXVIEE of the Inro=
sdutory Lectures, Standard Ea, 16, 455.) But as to the nature of
this alteration and how it could be effected very litte was
Iknovin, The sooent advances in Freud's analysis af the ego now
mace it possible for him to carry the investigation farther. The
therapeutic alteration of the ego was now seen rather as the
undoing of alterations already present as renults ofthe defensive
‘process. And itis worth recalling that the fact of alterations
ff the ego brought about by defensive proceses had been
mentioned by Freud ata very early date. The concept isto be
found in his discussion of delusions in hs second paper on the
nneuro-psychoses of defence (18906), Standard Bi, 3, 185, and at
several points in his even eaclier Draft K (Freud, 1950a) of
January 1, 1896, Thereafter, the notion seems to have been in
abeyance and the connection between anticathexes, reaction
formations and alterations of the ego is stated plainly for the
fiat time in Taibitions, Smploms ond Ansiesy (19264), Standard
Ed, 20, 157, 159 and 164, Te reappears in the New Inrodutory
“Leste (198%), tbi., 22, 90, and, afer the long discussion of
it in the present paper, in Masts and Monothim (19894), p. 77
sbove, and, finally, iu the Outine of Prycko-dnalyis (1940e),
p-178 above.
‘There is oxe respect, however, in which the views exprested
by Freud in this paper do seem to to
‘contradic, his eatlier onesf-aamely in the scepticism expressed
by him here iar lacie hon
is ‘extend (0 the prospects of preventing aot
fythe occurrence ofa fresband different neurosis bat even a
retum of'a neurosis that has already been treated. ‘The apparent
change is shown if we recall a sentence in Lecture XXVII ofthe
Introductory Lectres (1916-17) Standard Ea, 16,4452" person
‘who has become normal and free ftom’ the operation of re
presed instinctual impulses in his relation to the doctor will
remain so in his ova life after the doctor has once more with
drawn from it! And again, in Leoture XXVIII (ibid, 451),
‘where Freud is comparing’the effects of hypnotic suggestion
and prycho-analysis: ‘An analytic treatmentdemandsfrom both
‘doctor and patient the accomplishment of serious work, which
is employed in lifing internal resistances. ‘Through the over-
coming of these resistances the patient's mental ie is per
‘maneatly changed, is raised to a higher level of development au EDITOR'S NOTE
and remains protected against Gh posible of filing 2?
Similarly, in te losing sentences of Lecture XXXI ofthe Ver
‘ioduiny Laure (18380), Freud wstes that the ineaton of
poycho-ansysis iso strengthen the ego, to make i more
Independent ofthe superego, to veden is eld of perception
and enlarge is organization, so that it can approptite fesh
portions ofthe id Where i was, there 2 (Standard
"Baa 1) Te Coy undeng te pamage one fo be
‘he same, and ie seems lo dlfer in tmportant respects rom the
{theory implied inthe present work*
“The is ofthis increased sceptiia of Frou’ seems tobe
a conviton ofthe impossibilicy of dealing with a confit that
is not ‘current’ and of the grave objections to conversing &
‘latene conic itp a ‘current one. This postion appears (0
imply a change ofvew not merely about the therapentic process
bt aout mental events more generally. Here Freud seems £0
be regarding the ‘eurrenly sctive conflict as something
Solated, something, as it wer, ia a watertight compartnent.
ven the egos helped to cope wih ths confict,itseapacity to
deal with caller conict wil be unaffected. ‘The intinctsal
fore too seen to be thought of as loated in dhe same sort of
ways the fact that their pressure hasbeen eased in the current
Cenlict throws no light oa their subsequent behaviour. By con=
teat according tthe earlier view the analy proces seems to
have een considered as capable of altering the ego in a more
_gsterl sente and oe Which would persist after the end of the
nals and dhe instinctual forees seem to have been regarded
fu deriving Gee presure fom an aniferentatd reervor of
Dover So that in propartion a the analyss had been sucess,
any fcc inrad by the instinctual fees would have had some
fis presure reduced by the aualyss and they would be eon
fronted by an ego which the anayuis had mate more capable
of dealing with them Thus there would be no abyolatesegrega~
tion of the “curent conflict fom the “latent” enes; and the
prophylactic power of an analysis (like its immediate outcome)
Yrould depend on quantitative comsideratons—on the relative
Increase Brought about by tin the strength of he ego and the
relative decrease in that of the instincts
“1 ust be added hat i apober of th New utr Lats
(XXXIV) Feud empliatic fo iting on the linfatios of pyehow
Spal therapy (ii 158-4).
EDITOR'S NOTE 28
Te may be remacked that the account of the therapeutic
effects of analysis written by Freud about a year after the pre-
sent paper, in his Outline of Pocho-Anabris (19400 [1938]),
‘hough it agrees clesaly in general withthe account given here,
soem (0 revert perhaps to his earlier view on the particular
‘question we have just been considering. For instance, he writes,
there, after commenting on the great trouble invalved in over-
coming resistances: ‘Tt is worth while, however, for it brings
bout an advantageous alteration of the ego which wil be
‘maintained independently of the outcome of the transference
and will bold good in life” (P. 179 above.) This would sppear 0
saggest an alteration of a general kind,
Te is of interest to note that at the very beginning of his
practice Freud was worried by very much the same problems as
these, which may thus be said to have extended over the entire
Tength of his analytic studies, Here isan extract from a letter
written by him to Withelm Flies on April 15, 1900 (Freud,
1950a, Letter 183) on the subject of Herr E., who had been
‘under treatment certainly since 1897 and. probably at least
since 1895, and to the ups and downs of whose cage there are
repeated references in the correspondence: ‘E.'s carcer as a
patient has at last come to an end with an invitation to spend
an evening here, Hig riddle is almist completely solved, bis
condition is excellent, his whole being i altered: atthe moment
‘residue of his symptoms remains, I am beginning to under-
stand that the apparently interminable nature of the treatment
is something determined by lav and is dependent on the trane-
ference. 1 hope that this exdue will ot preudice
succesSSTt Tay only with me to deaide whether the treatment
p farther prolonged; but it dawned on me that such 4
prolongation is a compromise between being ill and being well
‘which patients themselves desir,
the physician should not consent he asymptote termination
ofthe treatmcat i subsiantally a matter of indifference to me;
itis for outeers rather that it isa disappointment. Im any case
shall keep an eye on the man, ANALYSIS TERMINABLE AND
INTERMINABLE
1
LExpensexor hae taught ue that peycho-analytic therapy—the
{recing of someone ftom his neurotic symptoms, inhibitions and
abnormalities of character—is a time-consuming. busines.
Hence, from the very Sst attempts have been raade to shorten
the duration of analyses. Such endeavours required no jusifica-
‘son; they could claim to be based on the strongest ebnsidera=
tions of reason and expediency. But there was probably still at
‘work in them as well some trace ofthe impatient contempt with
which the medical ssience of an earlier day regarded the
‘Reutosce as being tmcalled-for consequences of invisible injuries,
Ifithad now become necessary to attend to them, they should
at east be disposed of as quickly as possible.
‘A particalarly enengeti attempt in this direction was made
by Outo Rank, Zllowing upon his book, The Trane of Bint
(1924). He supposed that the true source of neurosis was the
‘act of birth, sce this involves the possibility ofa child's “primal
{Gsation’ to his mother not being surmounted but persisting 25
‘2 ‘primal repression’. Rank hoped that if this primal trauma
were dealt with by a subsequent analysis the whole neurosis
twould be got rid of. Thus this one small piece of analytic work
Would save the necessity for all the rest. And a few months
‘Should be enough to accomplish this, If cannot be disputed that
Rank’s argument was bold and ingenious; but it did not stand
the tet of eritical examination, Moreover, it was «child of is
‘ie, conceived under the stress of the contrat between the post
‘war misery of Europe and the ‘prosperity’! of America, and
‘designed to adapt the tempo of analytic therapy to the haste of
‘American lif, We have not heard much about what the
implementation of Rank’s plan has done for cases of sickness.
Probably not more than ifthe fire-brigade, called to deal with
a house that had been set on fre by an overturned oil-lamp,
‘contented themselves with removing the lamp ftom the room,
* (Jn English in the origina]
nis
|
|
|
ANALYSIS TERMINABLE AND IVTERMINARLE 217
in which the blaze hadstarte, Nodoubt a considerable shorten-
ing ofthe bigad’s ctv would be effected by this means,
‘he theory and practice of Rank’s experiment are now thingy
of the pat—no est than American "prosperity ite”
Tmyrlf had adopted another way of sesding up an analytic
treatment even before the war. At that time The taken onthe
‘se of young Ruan, a man spall by wealth, who had come
fo Vienna in s sate of couplets hdplosoes, socompanied by
2 private actor and an attendant" Inthe course ofa few years
itheas porible to give him back a lange amount of hs ine
dependence, to awaken hi interet in hfe and to adjust his
‘lations tothe people os important t him. But there pro-
tgs came (> a stop. We advanced wo furtber in dearng Up
the neurosis of his childhood, on which his later illness was
based, and it was obvious that the patient found his presat
postion highly comfortable and had no wish to take any step
Terwvard which would bring hte neazer tothe end of his teat
tuent, Te was a cave of the Seaument ihn alt wast
AdengeP orang Sa role af Ts—partal—suces, In his
preaicament I resorted tothe heroic measure of fing atime.
int fr the analyas® At the beginning of a years work T
{informed the Patient thatthe coming year was fo be the last
‘one of his treatment, no matter what he achieved in the time
[al eft to him. At frst be didnot believe me, but once he was
convinced that Twas in deadly eames, the deed change set
dn. His restance shrank up, and in these lst months of his
fecatment he wat able to reproduce all the memories and ‘0
Alscover all the connections which seemed nceesary for under-
Nanding his early neurods and mastering his present one
‘When ite lef'me in the midsummer of 1914, with a4 Tie
suspicion asthe res of sof what ly go shorty tend, Tbebeved
{hat his cure was radial and permanent
Tn a footnote added to this patent's case history in 19284
2 [Thi was writen oon afer the get Hanalei the United
seier'A sanded cca of Rens they had bea gen oy
rel in fain, Spon nd ney (926, See, pera,
Binder 24,38, 8-@ and 120-3]
Bea ay paps, pushed wil the podens coset, ‘rom te
Hisoey oa iebcal Nem (i8h) Reoste dette soos,
cfr Young a's at nem, whist s osc on oly wen com
Sposa edad meres abzlecly ranges
SiSee anlad Bt, 17, OIL] TBD lag a ANALYSIS TERMINABLE
T have already reported that I was mistaken. When, towards
the end of the war, he retumed to Vienna, @ refugee aud
destitute, I had eo help hita to master apart ofthe transference
‘which hiad not been resolved, This was accomplished in a few
months, and T was able w end my footnote with the statement
that ‘tier thea the patent has fet normal and has behaved
unexceptionahiy, inspite ofthe war having robbed him of his
home, his pemesions and all his family relationships. Fifteen
years have passed since then without disproving the truth of
this verdice but certain reservations have become necesary.
‘The patient has stayed on in Vienna and bas kept a place in
society, if humble one. But several times during this period
his good state of heats has been imerrupted by attacks ofilnes
Which could only be construed as ofthoots of his percanial
neurosis. Thanks to the skill of one of my pupils, Dr. Ruth
Mack Brunswick, a short course of treatment has on each
occasion brought these conditions to an end. I hope that Dr.
Mack Brunsiick herself will shordy report on the cium:
stances." Some of these attacks were stil concemed. with
reidual portions of the transference; and, where this was 20,
Shortlved ehough they were, they showed a dstnely paranoid
character. In other atiacls, however, the pathogenic material
‘consisted of pies of the patient's childhood history, which had
not come 10 light while T was analysing him and which sow
‘came away—the comparion is unavoidable—like sutures ater
sn operation, cr small fragments of necrotic bone. Ihave found
the history of this patient’s recovery scarcely lest interesting
than that of bis ines.
Thave subsequendy employed this Sxing ofa [Link] in
other cases as well, and T have algo taken the experiences of
other analysts into account. There can be only one verdict
about the value of this blackmailing device: i is effective pro-
Vided that one hits the right me forit. Butt cannot guarantee
to accomplish the task completely. On the contrary, we may
bbe sure that, while part ofthe material will become accessible
‘under the presure ofthe threat, another part wil be kept back
and thus become buried, as it were, and lotto our therapeutic
‘efforts. For once the analyst has fixed the time-limit he cannot
* [Her report ain fact already appeared several years caer
Besnvik To) or fae ratio te fer Saar of
sicaee an etal omote, Sunard Bd, 1h 122)
(
{
AND INTERMINABLE 219
‘extend its otherwie che patient would lose all faith in hi. The
‘most obvious way out would be for the patient to continue his
treatment with another analyst, alchough we know that such
a change will invelve a fiesh los of time and abandoning fruits
fof work already done. Nor can any general rule be lad down 28
to the right time for resorting to this forcible teclnieal device;
the decision must be left to the analyst’s tact. A miscalculation
cannot be rectified. The saying that a lion only springs once
must apply here.
uw
‘The discusion of the technical problem of how to accelerate
the slow progress of an analysis leads us to another, more deeply
interesting question: s there such a thing a9 a natural end to an
analysis—is there any possibilty at all of bringing an analysis to
such an end? To judge by the common talk of analysts it would
seem to be so, for we often hear them say, when they are
deploring or excusing the recognized imperfections of some
fellow-mortal: “His analysis was not finished? or he was never
analysed to the end”
‘We mast first of all decide what is meant by the ambiguous
phrase “the end of an analy’. From a practical standpoint it
is eay to answer. An analysis is ended when the analyst and the
patient cease to meet each ether for the analytic seision. This
hhappens when two conditions have been approximately ful-
filled: frst, thac the patient shall no longer be suffering from his
symptoms and shall have overcome his anxieties and his inhibi-
tions; and secondly, that the analyst shall judge that #0 much
represed material has been made conscio, so mich that was
‘unimelligible has been explained, and so much internal resist=
nce conquered, that there is no need to fear a repetition of the
pathological processes concerned. If one is prevented by
external difficulties from reaching this goal, iis beter to speale
of an iwomplste analysis rather than of an unfised one.
‘The other meaning ofthe ‘end’ of an analysis is much more
ambitious. Ta this sense oft, what we are asking is whether the
Analyst has had such a far-reaching influence on the patient
that no further change could be expected to take place in him
this analysis were continued, Tet as though ie were possible
by means of analysis to attain to a level of absolute psychical x0 ANALYSIS TERMINABLE
normality—a level, moreover, which we could fol confident
would be able to remain sable, as though, perhaps, we bad
{cesde in revolving everyone of he patients represions and
in ling nl the gun is memory. We may Set cons one
Ccxpeience to enquire whether such things do infact happen,
Sd then turn fo oor theory to aacover whether theres any
sibiiy ofthis bappening.
Pcyery analyet wl have ented afew caer which have had
this grauhing outome, He hae siccended im elesring up the
‘patient's neurotic disturbance, and fe has not retroed and has
Zot been replaced by any other such dinurbanee, Nov are we
tthout some inght into the determinants of these sucess.
‘The patient's ego had not bean nocesby altered! and the
‘etiology of hie diturbance had boen ewentally waumatic. The
Stilogy of every nearotic trance iy aftr all a mixed
tne, tis 2 question ether of the instincts beg excessively
Strong that to say, reafltrant to taming® by the ego—or of
the ellce of eal (Le. premature) traumas which the immature
eo was unable to master. As are there Is «combination of
Toth fctrn the constational aad the accidental. The stronger
the constitutional factor, the more readily will a wauma lead
toa fsation and leave bebind a developmental discurbanes the
stronger the toma, the more cen vl ausious eft
become maf even when the tinct station formal
‘There sna dob that am aetoogy ofthe traumatic sor offers
by faethe more favourable eld for analy. Only when a case
‘a predominantly trsumade one will nays accel in doing
‘vt it so supetlaively able wo do; ony then wilt thanks
to having strengthened the patfent’s ego, suceed in replacing
by a correct sation the inadequate deckion made in Ma easly
LE Only in such cases can one speak of an anajishaving
been ceitvely ended, In them, analysis Bas done all nef
Mould and doce not need to be continued, Teis rue haf he
patient who has been restored in this way never produces
Inotae order calling fr nays, we do not Know how meh
ih immanlty may not be de tos land fete oie as spared
‘im ordeals that are too severe,
‘A constnonal saength of fstinet and an unfavourable
* [Te dea ofan sera of the godine at lege blow,
paras Soton Serio te eatore Now, p20 above]
* [de word i conietd blow om 295]
AND INTERMINABLE mi
alteration of the ngn aequieed in ity defensive struggle in the
sense ofits being dislocated and restricted—these are the factors
which are prejudicial tothe effectiveness of analysis and which
‘may make its duration interminable, One is tempted to make
the first factor—strength of instinet—responaible as well for the
emergence of the second —the alteration ofthe ego; butit seems
‘that the latter too bas an aetiology of its own. And, indeed, it
must be admitted that our knowledge of these matters is as Yet
insufiient. They are only now becoming the subject of analytic
study. In this field the interest of analysts seems to me to be
quite wrongly directed. Instead of an enquiry into how a cure
by analysis comes about (a matter which I think has been
suficiently elucidated) the question should be asked of what are
the obsticles that stand in the way of such a cure.
‘This brings me to two problems which arte directly out of
analytic practice, as I hope to show by the following exarmples.
Avcertain man, who had himself practised analysis with great
‘succes, came to the conclusion that his relations both to:men
and women—to the men who were his eompedtors and to the
woman whom he loved—were nevertheless not fee fom
neurotic impediments; and he therefore made himself the sub-
Jectofan analysis by someone else whom he regarded assuperiot
‘to himself This critical illumination of bie own self had a
completely succesful result, He married the woman he loved
land tuned into a fiend and teacher of his supposed rival,
Many years pasied in this way, during which his relations with
his former analyst also remained wnelowded. But then, for 20
assignable external reason, trouble arose. The man who had
bbeen analysed became antagonistic to the analyst and re-
[proached him for having filed t give hia complete analysis,
‘The analyst, he said, ought to have known and to have taken
into account the face that a transference-relation can never be
purely postive; he should have given his attention tothe possi-
Dilities ofa negative transference. The analyst defended hirselt
by saying that, atthe time of the analysis, chere was no sign of
a negative transference, But even if he had failed to observe
"(According to Emest Jonet this relat to Ferenc, who was
analysed by Heud forthe? weels ia Octobe, 1014, and for another
‘Duce weeks (vith two sessions daily) im Jone 1916” See Jones, 15),
156, apd 1855, 185"and 213. CE alo Freud's obicuasy ot erence
(A988), Sand 2, 228)) mm ANALYSIS TERMINABLE
some urey Taint signs af t—which was not altogether red out,
considering the Limited horizon of analysis in those early days
‘it was stl doubtful, he thought, whether he would have had
the power to activate a topic (or, as we say, a complex’) by
merely poiuting it out, 90 long as it was wot currently active ia
the patient bimse at he time, To activate it would certainly
have required some unfriendly piece of hebaviout in reality on
the analysts part. Furthermore, he added, not every” good
relation between an analyst and his subject during and after
analysis wae to he regarded at a transferences there were also
‘Giendly relations which were based on realty and which proved.
tobe viable.
T now pass on to my second example, which raises the same
problem. An unmarried woman, no longer young, had been
Cut of from lif since puberty by an inability to wall, owing to
severe pains in the legs, Her condition was obviously of a
hyrterical nature, and it had defied many kinds of treatment.
‘An analysis lasting three-quarters of a year removed the trouble
and restored to the patient, an excellent and worthy person,
hace right to a share in lif. Inthe years following her recovery
the was consistently unfortunate, ‘There were disasters in her
family, and financial lowes, and, as she grew older, she saw
‘every hope of happiness in love and mariage vaniah. But the
‘one-ime invalid stood up to all this valiantly and wasa support
to her family in dificult tines. I cannot remember whether it
‘was twelve or fourteen years after the end of her analysis that,
wing to profuse haemorshages, she was obliged to undergo a
‘gynaecological examination. A myoma was found, which made
a complete hysterectomy advissble, From che time ofthis opers-
tion, the woman became il ance moze, She fll love with her
surgeon, wallowed in masochistic phantasies about the fearful
‘changes in her insde—phantases with which she concealed her
romance-and proved inaccessible toa further attempt at
fualysit. She zemained abnormal to the end of her life. The
Successfal analytic treatment took place so long ago that we
‘cannot expect fo0 much from i; it was in the earliest years of
‘my work as am analyst. No doubt the patient's second illnes
‘may have sprung from the same source as her fist one which
had been succesflly overcome: it may have been a different
‘manifestation ofthe same repressed impulses, which the analysis
isd only incompletely resolved. But {am inclined to think that,
wes ut fe we trams, thee woud hive ben Gk
othe o ear
"Toe two cre whch have bien purposely eleced
fom large namo ima on i ale oat 2
ron athe top eae cnseing Th wep the
pti an the siti ae ie dren eon of
them. The fs wil sey tats now proved ht on 9
stecaf ana weanent done oe poche pay who
Ae tine haben cures om ang ar oo nace
earner noc, aero dered om the ae ne
tinea wotthat to sys om secarene of he ld
rouble The ode il omer tt thot poe They
wbjert tate wo aap dat ote ry ap
tray tent and thy years a0, Nope ak
Bice cen we have sequed deeper ndght and ide ke
eg and that ow tecsqu at Change in score with
turn dcveis Tvs they wily we may Seman od
expect hat an antic shal prove permanente
that pan fl sa Sewers toto
toca roa of hearer tnt drt manag
{eal in new forms, Our experenes they wl ne oct
not sige ws to sesso matrly he demands that ah be
made upon oe thereat shod
My eto fr chong that two eal of coe,
peste bec chy ea ar bac in te pt eons
tha the more seen the uel ose fan sal
the les tnt fr our aca nce ve have ea
sf preicing what the lt sey the Tcvery wl be
‘Ta opt” expectations dey
{Mag wth as no presse steident ey mame, y,
eae ay oy ogo aa
toate or, mote cone, «confit betwen the goat a
feodnt) dtaily and ral tne ccna that wile we CE)
te retng somone for on tatu conf we cay
tenets agate penta nyo
Sec and ty that ve hve the power x pared J
strona tose ip x stops conte of aso wil
ES torbeayng tu atthe time by ny incision and hat
{ibe dom, Theo ou than quo witht prope
tanner them sow Pthapa ita note le st Pet
tev any etn ewer oem a all au ANALYSIS TERMINABLE
Some light may probably be thrown on them by theoretical
considerations, Bot another point has already become clear:
5 we wish to full che more exacting demands upon analytic
therapy, our oad wil not lead us to, a by way of a shortening
of ite duration,
ur
An analytic expeionoe which now extends over several
decades ana change whic ha aken plac inthe mare and
Ide of ny acy encourage me to aterpt to answer the
Gastons Defoe us In caer days T treated. gute a large
Shomer of patients, who, a8 wan nataal, rented to be dealt
witha guys pe OF ae yes ave besa may
Gneaged in taining analysers a rlatvely small nu
‘ee ewe lle: rained with me fer eoninuos tee
ten, lnteruped, however, by longer or share intervals
Wins them the thenpeuse atm wat no longer the mame.
There was bo question of shoresing the teatment; the pute
ove was radially fo exkscst the, poses of lines in
thom an to ring bout 3 ep-gong altradon of thelr
ersonalty. °
* Of the three factors which we have recognized as being
decisive forthe veces ov other of analy entinentthe
fnfacnceof rua he conststonl suength of the insines
an sltoraons of the ego-what concerns ts bere i oaly the
Second, the stength of the intial A momen? relation
‘see dutch erative of rahe come
$itudooal” or ‘ongentl) Ss exental. However ue fe may
Fett he ont lor of deve mportanee om
the wry begining, tie never coneivable Gat ae.
tnbrecment ef sect coming later ne might prec the
Stine ects. Iso, we should have to modify ove frmsta aed
faye etcagh ofthe nates te in! stead a the coe
Shull rengh ofthe asiacs. ‘The ft of our questions
ip. 228] was sit posible by means of snalyietherpy 10
Ligoe of a conictbeencen an instinct and the ego oF of @
puthogent asinetual demand pon the go permanently and
{einitvely? To aved mieandenanding tiv not wanecesay,
patlups toexplin move exactly what istmeent by permanent
{Upon of a nsnetaal demand Cray no aug he
is
AND INTERMINABLE ms
demand to disappear sn that nathing mores ever heard from it
again’ Thisisin general impossible, na sit at all tobe desired,
'No, we inean something else, somezaing which may be roughly
described as a ‘taming’ + of the instinct. That ie to say, the
instinct is brought completely into the harmony of the exo,
becomes accesible to all the influences of the other trends in
the ego and no longer secks to go its independent way to satis-
faction. Ifwe are asked by hat methods and means this result
fs achieved, its not easy to find an answer. We ean only say:
“So muss denn doch die Hexe dran!" "the Witch Metae
psychology. Without metapsychological speculation and theo-
rizing—I had almost said “phantaying —we shall not get
another step forward. Unfortunately, here as eliewhere, what
‘our Witch reveals is neither very elear nor very detailed, We
hhave only a single cluc to star fom—though it sa clue of the
highest value—namely, the antithesis between the primary and
the secondary processes; and to that antithesis T'shall a this
point tara.
If now we take up our first question once more, we find that
‘our new Line of approach inevitably leads tur to a particular
conclusion. The question was whether iis possible to dispose of
an instinctual conflict permanently and definitvely—i.e. to
‘tame’ an instinctual demand in that fashion, Formulated in
‘hese terms the question makes no mention at all ofthe strength
of the instinet; but it is precitely on this that the outcome
depends, Let us sart fom the asumption that what analysis
achieves for neurotis is nothing other than what normal people
bing about for themselves without its help. Everyday experi=
‘ence, however, teaches us that in 2 normal person any sobition
‘of sn instinctual conflict only holds good for « particular
strength of instinct, or, more correctly, only for a particular
relation between the strength of the initinet and the strength
2 (Bindigang? Freud bad, amang other place, wed the word in The
anionic Problem of Maioehim’ (19242) to describe the action by
‘whlch the Ubido can make the death isin innocuous Sunurd EE
Bo I6k Mic ae a Sen Tot Pat oft 16,
alo owing tothe ittervetion of he ego veud,19500))
[We must cll the Witch to ou help te ll
‘Goethe, Feu, Part 1, Scene 6,
Foo insench ofthe see of yout, ulin ssa eh Wis 26 ANALYSIS TERMINABLE
of the ego.t IF the strength of the ego dishes, whether
Uhrough illness or exhaustion, or from some similar caus, all
the instincts which ave on for boon sucowsflly tamed may
renew their demands and strive to obtain subrituivesaface
efutable proof of this statement is
supplied by our nightly dreams; they react to the seeping
attitude asumed by the ego with an awakeniog of instinewal
demands.
‘The material on the other side [he strength ofthe instincts]
is equally unambiguous, ‘Twice in the course of individual
development certininsincis are considerably reinforced: at
pubercy, an, in women, at the menopause. We are not in the
Teast surprised if person who was not neurotic befare becomes
so at tee times, When his intinels were not 80 song, he
sicoveded in taming thems; but when they are reinforced he can
no longer do a0. The reprssions belave like dams against the
presare of water. The same eects which are produces by these
khco pliyilogical reinforcements of iestinet, may be brought
about in an iregular fashion by accidental causes at any other
period of life. Such reinforcements may be act up by fresh
Iraumas, enforced Frustrations, or the collateral influence of
instincts upon one another. The ett always the same, adit
underlines the iresistble power ofthe quaniteive factor inthe
‘casation of lines,
fee a though I oaghé wo be ashamed of so much ponderous
‘exporition, seeing thae everything T have tad has long beee
familiar and selkevident. Tt i a fact that wo have always
Ipchaved a8 if we Knew all this; but, for the most pert, ou
theoretical concepts have neglected to attach the same im-
portance to the eanamic Hine of approach as they have tthe
“Oy, tbe petty acct, wher tha einton fl within etn
ve ere we havea jutlicton of Un clan tosetiolaislimpartance
of uc noneapeie factors a err, sec, ste, Tee ator ave
fhe tre of pean bu ha le paed
IE thebuckground pea nin Tw imple
Seine as act feted tere Le by erence ©
ie hain ltr betwen age o he tal apart
‘which ave been tengnsedor if ate prefered) nerd o oe
Jetucdby ts ti Sepreciadon ‘by. Brood of thr alse
SSopotance in teurads Of uch ftore a ‘overwork’ el be foul at
fy atin Dealt A ithe Fes popes, ding perhaps fom 1092
{on Stand Et)
Ry amen eee ieee
‘
