"When the patient comes with good news, he wants the therapist to respond with "congratulations." Of course, the therapist's natural inclination is to congratulate the patient. But I think it's better for the therapist to figure this out together with the patient. The patient may be hoping that the therapist can celebrate with him, or he feels that the therapist will not be able to share in the joy with him, or the patient is expecting, but the therapist is very attached to his technique and this is more important to him than the expectations the patient has. There are many ways to talk about this, and this seems to me more correct than saying "congratulations" because it can touch a deeper chord in the patient's soul." (From an interview with Irma Brenneman Pick, 2015).

Among the Clinicians, Irma Brenneman Peak is known as a psychoanalyst who is particularly interested in the analyst's inner work during the therapeutic encounter. In her well-known article "Working Through Countertransference" (1985), she emphasizes the analyst's need not only to perceive implications from the patient but also to do psychic work and examine how the implications interact with his inner world.

Brenneman assumes that if analysts are not in touch with their conflictual inner world in relation to the patient, they risk expressing in action what they interpret. With a difficult patient, the analyst must go through a personal experience together with that of the patient in order to reach denied material. This task is necessarily complex, but without it, she believes, analysts may treat in a mechanical and untouchable manner.

Brenman Peake explores how the transference relationship can contribute to the authenticity of the analyst and the patient. The danger in any therapy is that the patient will obey and cooperate with the false parts of the analyst in a kind of false talk or superficial conversation that cannot touch the deeper feelings of the patient.

Is it possible that the baby looks at the mother's face and tries to understand whether the mother is motivated by love or duty? Even small babies can be sensitive to the authenticity of the mother's part. How can the analyst be sure whether an intervention is authentic or not? We must be constantly alert to the possibility of self-deception on the part of the patient and the analyst.

The conversation will focus on falsehood, authenticity, and freedom within the therapeutic relationship, the nature of the inner work required in encounters with patients, and how the therapist can identify archaic modes of attachment in his or her patterns of communication with patients. We will also talk about the training that Irma Brenneman Pick received from Bion and Rosenfeld, and the state of Kleinian theory today.

Irma Brenneman Peake came to London from South Africa in 1955. She trained first at the Tavistock Clinic as a child psychotherapist and then at the British Institute of Psychoanalysis as an analyst for adults and children. She is now a senior fellow and supervising analyst of the British Society, and a past president of the Society. Her published articles include: "On Adolescence", "Working Through Countertransference", and "Worry: Fake and Real". Together with her late husband Eric Brenneman she has taught extensively abroad.

Irma Brenman Pick came to London from South Africa in 1955 and trained first at the Tavistock Clinic as a Child Psychotherapist, (qualified 1960) then at the British Institute of Psychoanalysis as an Adult and Child Analyst (qualified 1965). She is now a Distinguished Fellow and Training Analyst in the British Society, and a past President of the Society. Her published papers include: 'On Adolescence', 'Working through in the Counter Transference', and 'Concern: Spurious and Real' - all 3 in the IJPA.

Together with her late husband Eric Brenman she has taught extensively abroad.