Everything that absolutely must not be done

Abstract

The analytic field is a central paradigm in contemporary psychoanalysis, maintaining continuity with the classical, Kleinian, and relational models, while introducing a qualitative technical innovation: the focus on Bion’s notion of transformation. The metaphor of the “unconscious compass,” proposed by the author, places transference, projective identification, enactment, and the analytic field as cardinal points for orienting the deciphering of the unconscious. The author advocates for a gestalt listening of the “we” as an expression of the field created within the analytic couple, where the unconscious is co-created. The analyst expands psychic functions and bonds, fostering emotional authenticity in the pair while accepting their own unconscious participation. Several exercises are suggested to promote spontaneity in the analyst and consolidate the technique of analytic listening. According to the author, with analytic field theory, analytic listening ceases to be a “ping-pong” between the unconscious of analyst and patient, bound to a hermeneutics of suspicion, and becomes a Greek chorus in which analyst and analysand dream their existence, reinforcing the radical listening of the “we” in the here and now of each session.