Personal documents studied by the analysand
The analysand progressively studies various documents which refer to their story and closely affect them: the family tree, personal and family photographs, floor plans hand-drawn by them of the places they have lived in, correspondence and various writings such as diaries, school note books…
The analysand examines then describes them in minute detail at the beginning of the sessions at certain stages of the analysis, in accordance with an appropriate technique, then continuing with their associative work on the couch as usual.
This study, first descriptive, then associative, leads the analysand to discover certain elements which have contributed to their psychophysical development since birth: what type of person the analysand was, what their mother, father, and relatives were like and the relationships between them all, how the analysand grew up and where…
The analysand can thus rediscover the concrete reality of their experiences of satisfaction and frustration, whose traces are always active.
In addition to these four technical supports is the listening, at the end of the analysis, to some sessions recorded during the work.
It should be stressed that the technical supports are not psychotherapeutic instruments. They integrate with the free associations from the couch and stimulate the work of analysis.
A complement used at the right moment
The technical supports are an integral part of the long sessions.
Every technical support is introduced in the course of the work at a precise moment, determined by the immediate associative context and the global dynamic of the work.