What Heals in Psychoanalysis

This article explores the essential role of love and understanding in analysis. Love is seen as a healing force keeping the patient connected to life and to health, and as the glue that cements the analytic process. The four components of love which Erich Fromm (1947) describes—care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge—are the heart of all successful analysis. Two case studies illustrate how the positive countertransference may be used therapeutically to help patients move towards healthy self-esteem and self-care, and a more benevolent and loving relatedness.