Thankfully most of life‘s relationships are familiar, defined by some conventional guidelines, and therefore carried on with some sense that one knows what one should be doing. Right from the cradle we fall into family relationships quite naturally, as easily as we later learn how to converse with friends, spouses, coworkers, lawyers, doctors, etc. Whatever the degree of intimacy or harmony, we can depend on certain basic ground rules of the relationship.

There are also certain relationships for which neither God, nor parents, nor Emily Post has prepared us. One of these, and perhaps it even heads the list, is that totally unique relationship between patient and psychiatrist. Here you are truly on your own. Read more Early Session with a Classical Viennese Analyst ›