The truth emerges on the couch

Presented by Judith Revel, philosopher

With Isabelle Alfandary, author and professor
Stéphane Habib, psychoanalyst and philosopher

Laurie Laufer, psychoanalyst and professor of psychoanalysis

A lot happens on the couch. But not what you might think. It begins with words, sometimes gushing and irrepressible, or hesitant and trembling, punctuated with silences and sobs, as a listening ear awaits, rarely distracted, suspended and attentive. What is happening and unravelling during this unusual conversation? The couch sees and hears everything: words, silences, notes, tics, the therapist's movements and those of the patient as they lay upon the couch, their stories, dreams, slips of the tongue, free associations, the expression of their emotions, desires, obsessions, likes and dislikes, fears, resistances, hopes and plans. Does the couch also perceive the emergence of the "truth" throughout the sessions? Does it become the place where therapist and patient change each other and each gain a clear awareness of who they are? Is it the "foundation" on which the "patient" picks themselves up and rebuilds themselves, becomes a subject by consenting to the "truths" that their subconscious reveals, by accepting who they have become and becoming what they now know they can become on their own?