title: Good vibrations: analytic process as coupled oscillations.
abstract: This paper develops a new model for the action of psychoanalysis based on concepts from non-linear dynamics (chaos theory and complexity theory). It shows that the analyst-analysand couple may be conceptualized as a new configuration with its own properties that promote complex development in both members of the couple. These developments are an emergent result of the formation of the analyst-analysand couple and are significantly independent of the particular content of the manifest interaction of the couple. The well-studied phenomena of coupled oscillators suggest the specific features of the analysand-analyst interaction that are likely to be most important in conceptualizing analytic change. The model has substantial clinical applications since efforts to arrange for a coupled oscillator system that is central to it are distinct from many of the traditional considerations associated with creating an analytic situation.
authors.affiliation: galatzerlevy@sbcglobal.net
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Galatzer-Levy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000379:methods*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014167:Transference, Psychology