11. I replied that though estimatio

11. I replied that though estimations of progress in analysis were difficult to make there was no reason why we should not accept his evaluation as correct. But, I added, before we pass on to consider what should be done about it, we need to know what is meant by treatment. It might mean psychoanalysis; in which case it would appear that some other method of approach to his problems would have to be sought. A perhaps more obvious meaning would be, psychoanalysis as practised by me, in which case the remedy would lie in a change of analyst rather than a change of method. There was, however, yet another possibility. We had already had reason to suppose that alleviation of symptoms was sometimes achieved by factors incidental to analysis; for example, the sense of security obtained from feeling there was someone to go to. It was possible that he was unconsciously referring to some factor of that kind.