Illusion and Spontaneity in Psychoanalysis

When the eminent Middle Group psychoanalyst John Klauber died, he was in the course of writing his lecture as Freud Memorial Professor at University College London. His theme was that of departures from orthodoxy; the nature of the illusion that transference represents, and the relationship between fantasy and reality that the patient - and the analytic process as a whole - explores. He believed that the analyst's own personality, theoretical persuasion and implicit concepts, blind spots, aesthetic likes and dislikes, and unresolved conflicts become crucial in the 'space' between analyst and patient - for it is only when the analyst can respond spontaneously and intuitively that truly therapeutic work can be done. Here are four of his lectures, complemented by essays from Nicole Berry, Patrick Casement, Roger Kennedy, Neville Symington, Helmut Thoma and Daniel Widlocher.