Transference and countertransference are typical concepts of psychoanalysis and are the result of Freud’s first reflection on the human relationship that is created between patient and analyst. These phenomena, on the one hand, condition the course of therapy and, on the other, are an important window on the emotional and social life of the patient himself, thanks to which various information can be obtained directly. Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article we want to delve deeper into The difference between transference and countertransference in psychologyclarifying what they are and helping us with some examples.
What is transfer
In , this concept introduced by indicates the process of unconscious transposition, during the analysis and on the person of the analyst, of the feelings and emotions that the subject has felt in the past towards important people from his childhood.
Indeed, transference is a typical phenomenon of the relationship between patient and analyst, based precisely on the conviction that important relationships from the past characterize all successive relationships. In particular, the transference influences the expectations of the other and leads to reliving the feelings and emotions typical of the relationship with key childhood figures (typically parents). It is not an exclusive phenomenon of therapy, since it can affect any relationship with people who play an important role (both positive and negative) in an individual’s life.
In this article, we address in depth.
What is countertransference
It is the displacement of the analyst to the patient, a process that involves both members of the dyad, and it is often difficult to distinguish the components induced by the patient and those generated by the clinician’s unconscious conflicts. Designates the emotional condition that characterizes the analyst’s relationship with the patient and, in a specific sense, the displacement to the subject of the therapist’s own unconscious representations. This happens in analogy with the affective dispositions that the therapist felt towards the people with whom he was in close (intrafamilial) relationships.
The greatest consequence of countertransference is the manifestation of empathy, which allows the patient to feel understood and welcomed and the psychotherapist to identify with the patient’s state of mind. To achieve this goal, the therapist must, initially, give up some of the methodological and theoretical needs of him to listen to the patient in a mental condition free of prejudices and “technical” assumptions.
Along with displacement, countertransference is one of the driving forces of the therapeutic process and, therefore, essential. However, it can also create obstacles to therapy and usually needs to be supervised; One of the therapist’s most important tasks is to control countertransferable feelings. during the conversation with the patient. To provide a safe environment for the patient and do the best job of interpretation, the therapist must analyze and control her emotions, make the most of countertransference to make each analysis unique and original, and improve the patient’s understanding.
Difference between transference and countertransference
In the course of his work, Freud had identified two elements that were born and developed within the relationship: displacement and countertransference.
Through displacement, the patient would consider the therapist as a symbolic “reincarnation” of someone important in his childhood, and would therefore spill out all his previously repressed emotions and memories. The psychoanalyst should not passively reuse this report product, but should rework it and return it to the patient. Let’s look at the main difference between transference and countertransference:
- The transfer It consists of a particular form of hallucination that can be experienced within more or less significant human relationships. It is a kind of open dream full of emotions and memories that we tend to project in the relationship with the other significant.
- The other side of the transference is the countertransference, a true innovation and great change in the reflection on therapy, since it refers to the emotional involvement that the analyst feels towards the patient, beyond his medical condition.
- The countertransference It is the response, endowed with the same characteristics of the transference, that the other proposes to us in response to our transference.
- Countertransference would represent the reverse of the medal, that is, the set of emotional resonances experienced within the relationship by the therapist. At first, Freud considered countertransference as an obstacle to analytic work, but he later reevaluated it as an additional instrument for treatment.
Transference and countertransference in daily life
Although the words transference and countertransference are generally associated with the psychotherapeutic context, in everyday life we often experience this particular type of dynamic.
A useful example could be the experience you have when you go to a bar or any other store to consume or buy something. When we walk into the store, we have expectations about how the human interaction with the manager or staff is going to go, and we are often satisfied with how things are going.
Sometimes it can happen that something has not worked: we have been stunned by something and after leaving the store we are perhaps thinking of never coming back. However brief it may have been, the experience could have been so intense that generated emotions very strong negatives without knowing the reason for these phenomena.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Gambugiati, A. (2018). Transfer and contratransfer. Retrieved from: http://www.psicosintesioggi.it/psicologia/i-vissuti-del-paziente-e-del-terapeuta-transfert-e-controtransfert
- Petrini, P., Renzi, A., Casadei, A., Mandese, A. (2013). Dictionary of psychoanalysis. With elements of psychodynamic psychiatry and dynamic psychology. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Petta, A.M., Aragona, M. (2015). Prospettive of Modern Psychology. Rome: Crossing Dialogues.