Functions and Denials of the Clinical Setting

Interest in the setting and its functions in psychoanalysis appeared around ten years after the death of Freud. After a review of Freud’s essential technical recommendations regarding his setting (Verfahren), the authors define its main functions (containing, prohibiting, and symbolizing), as they were developed by Donald W. Winnicott, Jose Bleger, Andre Green, and Rene Roussillon. They then discuss the clinical implications of transgressions, especially when they appear among non-neurotic patients. Finally, the authors study the influence of theoretical references on clinicians’ use of the setting through theoretical and practical approaches derived from Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic teaching.