For a decade or so after the Rome Report, Lacan found in the concept of the Symbolic an answer to the neurotic problematic of the Imaginary: "It is the task of symbolism to forbid imaginary capture […] supremacy of the symbolic over the imaginary […] supremacy of the symbolic over the real."
Following the Rome Report, Lacan discovered that the concept of the Symbolic provided a solution to the neurotic issues associated with the Imaginary. He believed that "symbolic dominance" was essential in overcoming the Imaginary's influence and asserting the Symbolic's authority over both the Imaginary and the Real.