Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1527-1533
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Elements of the private therapeutic interview
NE Zinberg
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
A previous paper explored the differences between a psychiatric interview
that is entirely private and one observed by way of a mechanical device.
The attempt to explore such differences raises questions about what are the
special elements in the private interview that rely heavily on privacy.
This paper focuses on 1) the specific rhythms that are worked out within
each patient-therapist dyad; 2) the quality of the concentration of one
individual on another; 3) the capacity for undoing, or taking back,
previously stated positions; and 4) the difference between the intimacy
developed through privacy in everyday social situations and that achieved
in the therapeutic relationship.
