Three principles of salience in the organization of the patient-analyst interaction.

Explores the proposal that infant research is applicable to adult treatment through organizational principles of interactive regulation. Three organizing principles derived from infant research are used to create metaphors and analogies for adult treatment. These 3 principles (ongoing regulation, disruption and repair, and heightened affective moments) constitute hypotheses about how analyst–patient interactions become patterned and salient. They can further specify modes of therapeutic action in adult treatment. The case of a 36-yr-old professional woman with a depressive outlook on life and a strong belief that therapy would not help is used to illustrate the therapeutic action of the 3 principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)