The Still Point and the Liminal Character of Transformation

This paper explores the moment of change in analysis I call "the still point" through consideration of the phenomenology of when that which is known is sacrificed and the new has not yet appeared. The change process is understood as inherently relational where transformation comes about when the analyst is as vulnerable and open as the patient. Ghent's work on surrender, Stern's on moments of meeting, Jung's on transformation in the I Ching, and Strachey's work on the mutative interpretation are each considered. The still point is rooted in the collective unconscious, which provides the underlying energy for the interpersonal dimension of change in analysis. The image of the pendulum swinging to an undetectable stillness in the instant before it changes direction is used to illustrate the still point.