Article
Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through
Erinnern, Wiederholen und Durcharbeiten
What it shows
- 1914
Working through derives from Resistance
Freud introduces working through as the patient's labour on a resistance already named by the analyst: naming it does not end it, and the patient must be given time to work through and overcome it.
- 1914
Sigmund Freud introduced Working through
Freud names working through in his 1914 paper on technique. Naming a resistance does not end it, and the patient must be given time to go on working against it under the fundamental rule. It is a trial of patience for both parties, and it is the part of the work that changes the patient most and sets analysis apart from suggestion. Theoretically he likens it to the abreaction of hypnotic treatment.
- 1914
Working through diverges from Cathartic method
Freud presents working through as analysis's counterpart to the abreaction of the cathartic method. Theoretically it does the same job, discharging the affect held back by repression. But it does so through slow work against resistance under the fundamental rule, not through a single hypnotic discharge, and this is what sets analysis apart from suggestion.