A comparison of process notes and audio recordings in psychoanalytic psychotherapy

Abstract

This chapter focuses on changes in how patients are represented in the process notes from how they appear in the recording. It explores the presence of an idealized parental transference relationship manifest in the sessions studied. The chapter suggests that this relationship between therapist and patient influences what is changed or forgotten in the process note and that by comparing the two forms of recording - process notes and audio recordings. The data for the study comprise nine recordings of psychoanalytic psychotherapy sessions and the accompanying process notes. The changes in the language in the process note indicate the pattern of minimizing violence and sexuality. The comparison between process note and recording for the patient and her male therapist identifies a parallel process in which the reduction of violence in the notes corresponds to an emphasis on the patient’s vulnerability and her capacity to evoke the wish to look after her.