Stagnation in Psychotherapy and the Development of Active Technique

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy have been practiced as primarily expectant disciplines. The patient is asked to associate freely or to talk about problems, and the analyst responds by clarifying or interpreting; the psychotherapist may, in addition, respond occasionally by advising, urging, or dissuading. Ferenczi, more than other early analysts, emphasized an active technique in psychoanalysis in which he used injunctions and prohibitions to force behavioral change for the purpose of uncovering repressed material. This technique soon fell into disrepute, considered too disruptive for psychoanalysis. Since Ferenczi most analysts have eschewed active methods. Analytically oriented therapists have sometimes used active devices, but reluctantly and unsystematically, seldom making use of recent advances in behavior therapy which could render them more effective. In this paper, after reviewing the history of active technique, I will describe an approach in which a therapist can introduce active methods into an ongoing psychoanalytically oriented therapy in a way which combines psychodynamics and behavior therapy to the enhancement of both.