{"id":9510,"date":"2026-10-19T09:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pipolcongres.eu\/2026\/10\/19\/lanalyse-nest-pas-une-confession\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:45:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:45:03","slug":"lanalyse-nest-pas-une-confession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pipolcongres.eu\/en\/2026\/10\/19\/lanalyse-nest-pas-une-confession\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis Is Not a Confession"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTell Mommy everything\u201d is the invitation the mother extends to her distressed child. \u201cI tell Mommy everything,\u201d the little girl says, until she reaches the point where she no longer tells her everything; in fact, she will no longer tell her anything at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo say it all\u201d is an expression that stems from a command, mostly implicit. This command relies\u2014whether one perceives it or not\u2014on the function that Lacan calls the subject-supposed-to-know. It is precisely with regard to the function of subject-supposed-to-know that even a judge can order a witness to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In this case, it refers to truth understood as that which conforms to reality. Among other contexts in which we observe the \u201csaying it all,\u201d let us compare the direction of conscience, confession, and the direction of the treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the direction of conscience, the very act of allowing oneself to be guided does not in itself entail an obligation to tell one\u2019s spiritual director everything; moreover, as the conciliar texts note, [1] the spiritual director must be chosen freely. The point on which Lacan focuses his criticism\u2014and the incompatibility with the direction of conscience\u2014lies precisely in the difference in the object upon which the guidance is directed: unlike the direction of conscience, in which the faithful are guided, in the direction of the treatment the analyst \u201cmust not direct the patient. The direction of conscience, in the sense of the moral guidance a faithful Catholic might find it, is radically excluded here.\u201d [2] In psychoanalysis, it is the treatment that is directed, not the patient.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his text, Lacan specifies what this direction in psychoanalysis consists of. The direction of the treatment \u201cconsists, first of all, in getting the subject to apply the fundamental rule of psychoanalysis.\u201d [3] Here we see the emergence of a determining factor, an inviolable rule, which had already been established in the functioning of the justice system\u2014where, however, it concerned telling the whole truth, factual truth\u2014an obligation that a witness must adhere to in a trial, on pain of being convicted of perjury. In the psychoanalytic experience, too, it is a matter of \u201csaying it all\u201d while adhering to that indispensable parameter that Freud calls the <\/span>Grundregel<\/span><\/em>\u2014the fundamental rule\u2014which he elaborates on in his 1913 essay, <\/span>Zur Einleitung der Behandlung<\/span><\/em>. [4] Without the patient\u2019s willingness to adhere to this rule, there is no analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before delving into what the fundamental rule entails, let\u2019s compare the approach of the direction of conscience with the sacrament of confession, where the requirement of \u201csaying it all\u201d is set against another criterion\u2014one that is equally indispensable\u2014without which the act of absolution inherent in the sacrament of penance is invalid. In confession, one must confess all those sins that moral theology calls mortal sins. In practice, these are the acts that transgress what we call the Ten Commandments, which are set forth in two books of the Bible [5] and promulgated \u201cby something that announces itself in the following form: \u2018I am what I am.\u2019\u201d [6]<\/span> In short, a matter of confession is an act that violates one of the Ten Commandments. However, the act must be committed by a human being acting voluntarily and consciously.<\/span><\/p>\n

The imperative to which one who adheres to the Freudian rule submits is, however, of an entirely different nature. Addressing the \u201cRat Man,\u201d Freud explained that he had to say everything that came to mind, even if it was unpleasant, irrelevant, nonsensical, or absurd. This was the condition\u2014which Freud asserted was the only one to which the treatment would bind him. The patient had to adhere to that rule so that what Freud calls <\/span>Einfall<\/span><\/em>\u2014that is, that \u201cfall,\u201d that irruption\u2014 could take place within the subject; a phenomenon that is often mistakenly translated as \u201cfree association.\u201d The <\/span>Einfall<\/span><\/em>\u2014a term strangely similar to <\/span>Umfall<\/span><\/em>, meaning accident or misfortune\u2014appears in Freudian texts well before the <\/span>Grundregel<\/span><\/em>, as it is present, even in its verbal form, as early as in the <\/span>Traumdeutung<\/span><\/em>. [7] And yet the <\/span>Einfall<\/span><\/em> is ineffective unless it is firmly and indispensably anchored to the <\/span>Grundregel<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSaying it all,\u201d therefore, differs depending on the object in question in the two processes: a sin committed consciously by the penitent, and the signifying chain that operates unconsciously for the analysand. Furthermore, everything pertaining to feelings, emotions, and anxieties is similar in both processes. Although they may torment the penitent, they are neither the object of confession nor evidence of repentance. Although affects are taken into account in an analytical treatment, they are considered not as causes but only as effects of the signifying process on the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

What differs, however, is the purpose of the two processes, where the objective differs sharply. For the penitent, it is absolution for the sin committed; for the analysand, even if there is no forgiveness for one\u2019s own actions, there is nevertheless the possibility of establishing a new alliance with the drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Cf<\/span>.<\/span><\/em> Il Concilio Vaticano II, <\/span>Documenti<\/span><\/em>, Ed. Dehoniane, Bologna, 1965, num. marg. 748, 788.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Lacan, J., \u201cThe Direction of the Treatment and the Principles of Its Power\u201d, <\/span>Ecrits<\/span><\/em>, trans. B<\/span>.<\/span> Fink (London\/New York: Norton, 2006), p. 490.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] <\/span>Ibid<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Cf<\/span>.<\/span><\/em> Freud, S., \u201cOn Beginning the Treatment (Further Recommendations on the Technique of Psycho-Analysis I)\u201d (1913), <\/span>SE<\/span><\/em>, Vol. XII: p. 121-144.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Cf<\/span>.<\/span><\/em> Exodus<\/span><\/em>, 20, 1-17 and <\/span>Deuteronomy<\/span><\/em>, 5, 6-22.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Lacan, J., <\/span>The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book VII, <\/span><\/em>ed. Jacques-Alain Miller, trans. <\/span>D.<\/span> Porter (London\/New York: Norton, 1992), p. 81.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Cf<\/span>.<\/span> Freud, S., \u201cThe Interpretation of Dreams\u201d (1900), <\/span>SE<\/span><\/em>, Vol. IV-V.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul \u039alee, <\/span>Tableau mural<\/span><\/em>, 192<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTell Mommy everything\u201d is the invitation the mother extends to her distressed child. \u201cI tell Mommy everything,\u201d the little girl says, until she reaches the point where she no longer tells her everything; in fact, she will no longer tell her anything at all. \u201cTo say it all\u201d is an expression that stems from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[578],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnalysis Is Not a Confession - Pipol Congr\u00e8s<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pipolcongres.eu\/en\/2026\/10\/19\/lanalyse-nest-pas-une-confession\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Analysis Is Not a Confession - Pipol Congr\u00e8s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cTell Mommy everything\u201d is the invitation the mother extends to her distressed child. \u201cI tell Mommy everything,\u201d the little girl says, until she reaches the point where she no longer tells her everything; 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