The work of the human mind: Time and symbolization (in honour of Dana’s work and thought)

In order to honour the work of Dana Birksted-Breen I will attempt to show how the reading of her work has impacted on my own thinking and changed it or modified it. I would like to begin by highlighting one of Dana's claims in <i>The Work of Psychoanalysis</i>. I will focus on two areas: (1) the development of symbolic capacity and its connection with temporality, and (2) the concept of reverie as a <i>cornerstone of the psychoanalytic enterprise and that which promotes change</i>. I will discuss these two topics following the development of some sessions of a patient. Through the clinical material I will deepen my understanding of Dana's concept of <i>reverberation time</i> in connection both with the progression of symbolic representation and with the use of reverie by the analyst in the inter-subjectivity of the session.