Transference: A No Man’s Land

Summary:

‘Preliminary conversations’ are very important, both in private and in public settings, for in these conversations we wait for the emergence of the question that will enable us to begin therapy. My argument proceeds from this consideration. I shall describe a case, which I regard as representative of what is done in a public institution when we activate the psychoanalitic device and its functionality. I found this case interesting because it shows how one can speak of psychoanalisis (performance wise) in an institution and not only in a private studio. It also shows how, all in all, the difference between the two settings is irrelevant for the functioning and destiny of analysis, because if there is a difference, this is due to the listener and not to the place where one listens. Finally, in the case I describe, I shall focus my attention on the possible passage, in the analytic discourse, from a public to a private setting, making the preliminary remark that one sets to psychoanalytical listening upon receiving a demand.