A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of the Phenomenon of Time in Psychotherapeutic Practice

Reflecting on the concept and phenomenon of time is an essential component of the formation of a psychoanalyst’s professional identity, as well as of enhancing their skill and ability to understand psychoanalytic meanings within the temporal dimension. The aim of this article is to present the results of a theoretical exploration of the phenomenon of time in psychoanalytic practice, to clarify the significance of time as a component of the setting in psychoanalytic psychotherapy—which simultaneously both limits and protects the therapeutic process—and to identify distinct temporal dimensions (“layers of time”) in psychoanalytic practice. This study was conducted through reflection on the psychoanalyst’s practical experience through the prism of the phenomenology of time, drawing on a brief overview of the understanding of time in various philosophical traditions. Building on the conceptualization of time as a flow of events, the study examines four types of events that may occur within and outside a psychoanalytic session: “thought events,” “unthought events,” “thought non-events,” and “unthought non-events.” The article details which specific phenomena of the psychoanalytic process can be attributed to each of the aforementioned types of events. The author proposes considering the concept of “psychoanalytic time” as a combination of distinct temporal layers: “conscious time” (filled with thought-of events), “preconscious time” (filled with unthought-of events and thought-of “non-events”), and “unconscious time” (filled with unthought-of “non-events”), which are characteristic of both the psychoanalyst and the client. The analyst’s and the analysand’s experience of these different layers of time is not always synchronized; rather, it can unfold as fragmented, autonomous, and even opposed. This way of viewing and conceptualizing the psychoanalytic process in terms of the passage of time creates a theoretical framework for containing the analyst’s feelings, giving them an additional opportunity to formulate appropriate interventions, withstand moments of “desynchronization of times,” and maintain their professional stance in a sustainable manner.