The Analytic Frame Revisited: Individual and Couple Psychotherapy

The analytic frame is understood through a complex lens that supports the development of a treatment. In this seminar, we will explore the theory and purpose of the analytic frame in both individual and couple psychotherapy. In individual therapy, the frame is shaped through the subtleties of analytic listening and a nuanced attention to the patient’s inner narrative. The frame in couple therapy creates the experience of a shared couple space that will take precedence over the needs of each partner. All contemporary treatments encompass an ever-changing social and psychological world, one that will challenge the relational field. When the therapist encounters impasse, the frame offers a steady structure that holds anxieties while facilitating the potential for new emotional experience. We will rely on clinical vignettes to demonstrate our thinking.

1. Discussion of the purpose and function of the setting and frame in
individual and couple treatments.
2. Explore similarities and differences in the frame between
individual and couple therapy.
3. Identify how the analytic therapist’s internal setting is crucial to
the frame.