Analysis begins in the analyst's mind: conceptual and technical considerations on recommending analysis

For certain patients who approach analysts for treatment, analysis remains the only treatment that can provide the urgent and at times lifesaving help they need. At the same time, recommending analysis presents analysts with a surprisingly challenging emotional task. Because patients will not be able to get analytic help unless the analyst recommends it and facilitates the patient's engagement, it is vital that analysts identify the conditions that make the beginning of analysis possible. Analysis, it is argued, begins in the analyst's mind: how analysts think about their function, their patients, and the analytic process determines in great measure whether analysis will begin. Six essential components of the analyst's mindset are presented, as well as technical considerations about recommending analysis that are based on this mindset and that have been useful in initiating analysis. A detailed clinical example is provided to illustrate how the analyst's thinking informed the initial phase of a treatment with a patient who engaged in a productive analysis.