The major figures in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, with some exceptions, paid scant attention to concepts of power. In a more democratic age, the assumed power differential between the authoritative therapist and the suppliant patient is often scrutinised. This scrutiny may be clinical or variously politicised. Vigorous opposition to this model emphasises the generally underestimated power of the patient. Yet the meanings of the word “power,” as comprehensive concept, process and experience, are likely to be unexamined. Some question whether the word can be used to clearly describe anything at all in psychotherapy. However, it is argued that an examination of this universalising concept of power and its intensities, may provide another perspective on the therapeutic conversation.
