Between Us: A Psychotherapy Podcast Episode 57: What's Mine Is Yours
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Aug 20, 2025 In a deep dive, Tony Bass, a renowned psychoanalyst and president of the Stephen Mitchell Relational Studies Center, shares his insights on the art of therapy. He emphasizes the importance of mutual influence in the therapeutic relationship, likening it to an improvisational jazz session where both client and therapist contribute uniquely. The conversation highlights how personal experiences shape clinical practice and the intricate dance of emotions within therapy. Bass explores the courage needed to navigate unconscious dynamics and the paradox of connection in our technology-driven world.
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Look For Multiple Meanings In Crises
- Suicidal disclosure can carry multiple, ambiguous messages, including testing the therapist's affect.
- Tony suggests exploring what the patient's message about the therapist's reaction might truly mean.
Name Enactments That Protect The Therapist
- Notice when a patient's hesitation protects the therapist's feelings or mirrors parental dynamics.
- Name that enactment gently to open the patient to linking present hesitation to earlier caregiving roles.
Unconscious Is A Two‑Person Dialogue
- Tony frames the unconscious as a two-person, intersubjective process rather than solely housed in the patient.
- He invokes Ferenczi's 'dialogue of unconsciouses' to highlight reciprocal unconscious communication.
