Modality and representations of the client’s referral as organizers of the request for help to the consultant psychotherapist.

Abstract

In this article I want to underline the importance of exploring the area of the client’s referral to the consultant psychotherapist in the setting-up phase of the intervention. In this area, in fact, one can identify fantasies and representations that organize the client’s request for help and that, if they are highlighted and decodified by the consultant, facilitate the task of analysing the demand. I am referring to a theory of contextualistic, rather than individualistic technique. As it has already been underlined in this review, this entails considering not only the intrapsychic dimension presented by the client but also the intersubjective aspect To be more precise, it means considering the intrapsychic dimension that is not autonomous but part of a process that is organized in a domain that includes, but transcends, the individual (Salvatore, 2006).