Casting the couch:

Chris Milton; Charles Malcolm

doi:10.9791/ajpanz.2006.03

Chris Milton
Charles Malcolm

DOI: https://doi.org/10.9791/ajpanz.2006.03

Abstract

Analysis occurs when the space of meeting becomes the place of encounter. This place is no ordinary place, it is a place dedicated to the analysand appropriating her/his own, authentic possibilities of being. The place and process which is analysis is evoked in several ways: by the presence of analyst and analysand, the 'rules' which guide the process and the ambiance of the setting. The last of these includes the use (or not} of the analytic couch.

Drawing on qualitative research into several analysts' lived experience of having an analys and use the couch this paper discusses the role of the couch in constituting intersubjective privacy and some of the ways in which the couch contributes to a particular way ofbeing-together-with, bodily attunement, the emergence of an analytic third, and reverie.

Author Biographies

Chris Milton

As recorded in 2006.

Chris Milton Ph.D. is a Jungian Analyst and Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Auckland. He currently devotes most of his time to analysis and supervision. A member of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, Chris is also Secretary of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Jungian Analysts (ANZSJA), a Supervising Analyst of ANZSJA C.G. Jung Institute and serves on the Editorial Board of the on-line Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology. He was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the South African Institute for Psychotherapy in 2001 for his contributions to psychotherapy in South Africa.

Charles Malcolm

As recorded in 2006.

Charles Malcolm Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist. He is currently Professor of Clinical Psychology and Departmental Chairperson, Department of Psychology, University of the Western Cape, Town. He has published in, and served on review boards for South African and international journals. He has held executive committee positions on the Professional Board for Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa, the Psychological Society of South Africa, the South African Institute of Psychotherapy and the South African Family and Marital Therapy Association.

Casting the couch

Some discussion of its role in shaping the place of encounter

Abstract

Author Biographies