Whipped cream and other delights: A reverie and its aftermath

Abstract

One way to capture the emotional truth that we look for in psychoanalysis is through the dream work that is created in the analyst’s reverie. The question of whether disclosure of the reverie represents an unconscious enactment, as opposed to a more disciplined use of reverie, needs to be considered. The author reflects on a reverie he had, which consisted of a visual image of a sexually provocative record album cover. The patient responded to the reverie’s disclosure by describing a dream, which led to an enlivening of the therapy and work involving mourning the loss of the patient’s father.