Psychoanalytic Listening: Methods, Limits, and Innovations

Joseph Breuer’s celebrated patient, Anna O., designated psychoanalysis to be a “talking cure”. She was correct insofar as psychoanalysis does place verbal exchange at the center stage. However, this focus upon the patient’s and therapist’s speaking activities diverts attention from how the two parties listen to each other. Psychoanalysis is a listening and a talking cure. Both elements are integral to clinical work. Listening with no talking can only go so far. Talking without listenin…