“NOBODY SAID IT WAS A CINCH!”
To
illustrate the technique of free association, which is the basic
technique of Psychoanalysis, I will transcribe below
the session that took place on October 12, 1924 in the office
of Edward Scripture, charter member of the New York Psychoanalytic
Society. Scripture has just received a new patient in his consulting
room. After the appropriate greetings,
each one occupies its respective place in the psychoanalytic stage.
Scripture gives the patient instructions on how to proceed with the
technique of free association of ideas.
It is, he says, a kind of long chain that leads to the past and in
which he, Scripture, is going to string the first link: “I
will mention a word, and immediately you
will respond with another word with which you relate it. Do you
understand?”
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Patient:
Yes
Doctor:
If I mention the word "vacation", what’s the first thing
that comes to your mind?
Patient:
An aircraft carrier
Doctor:
Interesting. Have you spent a vacation on an aircraft carrier?
The
patient laughed.
Patient:
Are you kidding?
Doctor:
In that case, why have you associated the word “vacation” with an
aircraft carrier?
Patient:
Well, it's the first thing that came to my mind. You said that…
Doctor:
Okay, okay. I
will mention another word. But this time you are going to reflect a
moment before answering. Think of something that evokes that word and
summarize that evocation in a single word. Ready?
Patient:
Shoot
Doctor:
“Ocean”
The
patient remains silent for a moment and then exclaims:
"Hammer!"
Doctor:
What have you said?
Patient:
Hammer. A tool with a metal head...
Doctor:
Yes, I know what a hammer is. What
intrigues me is what a hammer has to do with an ocean. I
don’t…
Patient:
Well, it depends on what ocean. Are you
referring to the Atlantic or the Pacific?
Doctor:
I still don't see what one thing has to do with the other.
Patient:
Well, say another word
Doctor:
No, no, that wouldn’t be scientific. We will try to find out why
your subconscious has put these two terms in relation. Close your
eyes and think of a scene in your life involving a hammer and an
ocean.
After
reflecting for a while, the patient explains that once, years ago, he
hung a picture on the wall by means of a hammer, and that picture
represented an ocean where a vessel sailed.
Doctor:
Aha. We are getting closer
Patient:
Closer to what?
Doctor:
To your subconscious. Go on. Keep deepening into that memory. Was it
your house where you were hanging the picture?
Patient:
No. It was actually the house of ... I'm sorry, I can’t say it.
Doctor:
Aha! We are getting closer. Go on, go on! What’s that you can’t
say?
Patient: Who the
house was.
Patient: Because
it can't be known. Look, I propose one thing: let's get back to the
aircraft carrier
Doctor: Forget
about the aircraft carrier! It is not the aircraft carrier that your
subconscious is trying to reveal to us.
Patient: How do
you know that my subconscious is trying to reveal something?
Doctor: Because
it's trying to hide it from us!
Patient: Well,
which is it? Is it trying to reveal something or is trying to hide
it?
Doctor: Look,
your subconscious is like a girl you've asked out. She is willing to
say yes, but does not want to look like an easy girl, so she says no.
What would you do in such a case?
Patient: Well, I
would look for another girl who would say yes. Maybe if we went back
to the aircraft carrier ...
Doctor: Forget
about the aircraft carrier!!
Patient: Maybe
the carrier is an easier girl
Doctor: You are
not interested in easy girls! You are looking for your Soul Mate, and
your Soul Mate is the girl in the painting!
Patient: I remind
you that the painting is not the portrait of a girl. It's an ocean.
Doctor: But the
house where the painting hangs belongs to a girl, right?!
Patient: How do
you know? I didn't tell you!
Doctor: Your
subconscious has told me!
Patient: Damn
subconscious snitch!
Doctor: Okay, now
that we know there's a girl involved, what do you have to tell me
about that girl?
Patient: Ask my
subconscious. I am not a damn snitch
Doctor: It's to
your subconscious that I'm asking!
Patient: Sorry. I
thought you were asking me
Doctor: Who is
that girl?
Patient: Don't
tell him
Doctor: What? Who
are you talking to?
Patient: I told
my subconscious. I didn't talk to you
It's at this
point in the session when Scripture had a mental breakdown that kept
him out of action for a while. As you can see, this is just an
example of the mechanism that makes the technique of free association
so effective in Psychoanalysis. And if I have chosen this case, it is
to show you that, apart from being effective, it is a technique that
can be extremely stressful for the psychoanalyst in charge. After
all, nobody said that the profession of psychoanalyst was a cinch!
This is a non-profit blog whose purpose is to raise funds for children in need. So if you want to make a donation in exchange for this story, click on this link to UNICEF. I really appreciate it!
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