In this presentation, Rodrigo Barahona, PsyaD, FIPA, will present on initiating an analytic process, a topic of enduring clinical relevance derived from his deep study of Freud and Bion. Dr. Barahona explores how psychoanalysis begins in the analyst’s mind, drawing on Bion’s theory of container-contained and Freud’s models of transference and resistance to shape his clinical approach. He emphasizes the analyst's role in interpreting the patient’s unconscious communication and framing the material, transforming it into a shared understanding. Central to his argument is the concept of containment, where the analyst metabolizes and re-presents the patient’s emotional experiences. Dr. Barahona highlights the importance of the analyst’s theoretical framework and capacity for reverie to navigate the emotional challenges of early sessions, fostering an analytic process that helps patients integrate fragmented aspects of their psyche.
About the Presenter:
Rodrigo Barahona, PsyaD, FIPA is a psychoanalyst and faculty member at The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. He is on the Board of Directors of the Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies and of the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, where he is also the Book Review Editor. He serves on the editorial boards of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, and formerly on the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He is a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the International Psychoanalytic Association. He has a private psychoanalytic practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. His most recent publication is a book titled "Negative Hallucinosis in Wilfred Bion's Theory of Transformations: On Finding One's Ghost", which is part of The Routledge Wilfred R. Bion Studies Book Series. The Series Editor is Howard Levine.
Learning objectives:
1. Explain how the psychoanalytic process begins with the analyst framing the patient’s material in terms of transference and resistance, setting the foundation for transformative therapeutic work.
2. Describe how the analyst’s ability to process and transform the patient’s emotional experiences through reverie and interpretation facilitates psychic integration and growth.
3. Describe how Freud’s principles of transference and resistance and Bion’s container-contained model enhance the analyst’s ability to initiate and sustain psychoanalytic processes effectively.
