Analyzability and capacity for change in middle life

The stimulus for this paper was the analyst's surprise at the capacity for change in a number of middle-aged patients, some of whom would not have been considered good analytic prospects even if young, especially since they had all had extensive, unsuccessful previous psychiatric and psychoanalytic treatment, in two instances with the author herself. Factors of change in what now constitutes "old age," and of analyzability, rigidity, motivation and readiness for change, countertransference factors, and the significance of a late-appearing corrective emotional experience were all considered, along with a brief re-evaluation of what the analytic process really is, and how change comes about.