Episode 7: "I Feel Unsafe" - Victimisation and Fragilisation

In this episode, Rachael takes on a number of important questions including when is it appropriate to bypass defences by uniting with the patient’s perspective and when to try to get under the defences and how to do this . Similarly, Rachael explores the question of when to push against resistance and when to work around  resistance or go to a third option of analysing the resistance. 

Rachael also comes up against the fact that her memory of the patient in a previous phase of therapy is affecting her ability to simply be present with the patient in the current moment.

Following Bion's dictum to try to be without memory or desire, Rachael is able to reappropriate the value of working in the transference-countertransference matrix as it is unfolding in the room. She is also able to share with the patient the load of reflection and thought by asking questions and directing the treatment rather than doing all the work herself.