[Symptom portrayal and initial therapeutic relationship of female and male patients in the initial psychoanalytic interview].

The transcripts of psychoanalytic initial interviews are analyzed in using the "Structural Analysis of Social Behavior" (SASB) by L. S. Benjamin. This instrument was chosen to detect how male and female patients talk about their symptoms, and about previous treatments. The immediate interaction with the interviewer during the dialogue was also described by using SASB. On the basis of only the first patients' utterances after the initial request of the therapists (like "What brings you here?") we can distinguish female and male patients by the quality of the relations described (to the symptoms, the previous physicians, and to the therapist). The sex-specific readiness to establish relationships which becomes apparent in these descriptions can be related to the interview situation itself. In our further argumentation we interpret them as subtle messages to the interviewer. Finally we discuss their inherent potentials and risks for the psychotherapeutic cooperation.