Unconscious processes that inhabit us: a view from the Antipodes.

The paper examines the changing views about the nature of the unconscious to those which encompass intra-psychic, interpersonal and transpersonal dimensions. It traces the changing views about the nature of the psychoanalytic relationship from Freud's vertex of a one-person psychology to a seemingly inevitable inter-subjective viewpoint wherein the analyst / therapist is seen not as a neutral figure on whom a transference can develop, but one who shapes the relationship. Understandings about countertransference and the impact of the person of the therapist that link theory identified also fuelled these developments. The paper further identifies the contribution of couple and family psychoanalysis in advancing our understanding of the nature of the unconscious, noting that phenomena found in couple and family therapy (such as a family dream) suggest the transpersonal nature of the unconscious. The paper finally considers the implications of the developments in understanding clinical practice with couples. The author concludes that perhaps in the light of such developments in theory and practice, we need to re-think what is transformative in our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]