Transference and Countertransference in Analysis
Can your emotions play tricks on you? Of course; the phenomenon of transference and countertransference are proof that psychological needs and past emotions can resurface and but in different contexts and under artificial conditions. Dr. Michael Conner, crisis counselor, writes that transference is an “emotional time warp.” When faced with a situation, or person, that triggers the past, these emotions and needs become part of our present as well. This is relatively common in therapeutic settings, and it occurs with both the patients or clients and the clinicians. Countertransference is, essentially, transference on the part of the practitioner. Both transference and countertransference can be very helpful in the therapy process.
In the HBO series, the Sopranos, mob boss Tony Soprano attends psychoanalysis sessions with Dr. Melfi. At one point, he tells her that he is in love with her, that he dreams about her. She says that she has given him a stable yet “broad, generic, and sympathetic woman” in a supportive, listening role. Dr. Melfi explains, “You’ve made me all of the things you feel are missing in your wife. And then your mother.” What she is saying is that he has transferred mixed emotions onto her, putting her in a wife or mother role. One of the most common types of transference is that of romantic feelings, and it can be very damaging to therapy if left unaddressed. If it is expressed by the patient, and then worked through with the clinician, however, it can be a useful stepping stone for self-realization and exploration.
Jung explained transference in regards to a patient he treated. The young woman transferred onto Jung the role of a parental or father figure. He was elevated to almost-mythic proportions, and even though she knew consciously that he was not a father, she could not break herself of this image. In one dream, the patient identified herself as a young child and Dr. Jung as a godlike figure in a wheat field.
Jung explained to his patient: “You have the idea of a deity that you don’t possess…Therefore, you see it in me.” Something was missing within this patient, and she supplied Jung with the qualities that she was lacking. The image she experienced in the dream was “fresh from the archetype” of a caring, loving, omnipotent being. When they revealed this through analysis of the dream, Jung says, “She saw what she had really was missing; that missing value, which was in the form of a projection in myself and made myself indispensable.” The archetypal value she transferred to Jung, however, was within her, and once this “clicked” with her, according to Jung, she was able to progress towards individuation.
Freud identified the phenomenon of countertransference in 1910, writing that it is the “result of the patient’s influence on [the physician's] unconscious feelings.” The clinician, he warned, must be on guard “against any countertransference lying in wait.” He argued that it was possible for any practitioner to experience countertransference and he must recognize and “master” it. It is difficult, and some say impossible, to remain completely neutral with a patient, however; so what happens what a therapist experiences his own “emotional time warp” toward the patient?
According to Freud, countertransference could be “positive” or “negative.” Both, in his view, were decidedly negative from an analytic point of view. Positive countertransference led the analyst to feel “favorably” towards a client; an example would be if a clinician thought he was in love with a patient. Negative countertransference elicits responses including hatred, fear, sadness, guilt, distrust, or disgust. Either could impact therapy negatively, and this is why Freud felt we must be on guard. Jung held a different view. Rather than being separate and distinct from the desired goal of transference, countertransference was simply an extension of the process.
Jung writes in The Psychology of the Transference: “Freud… overlooks the very essence of the transference – the collective contents of an archetypal nature. The reason for this is his notoriously negative attitude to the psychic reality of archetypal images, which he dismisses as an ‘illusion.’…My handling of the transference problem, in contrast to Freud’s includes the archetypal aspect and thus gives rise to a totally different picture.” Jung used Freud’s work as a starting point but rather than “guarding” against countertransference, he urged analysts to understand and accept it.
21st century analysts sometimes refer to Jung’s view of countertransference as “co-transference” to differentiate it from the negative stigma that has traditionally been attached to the Freudian concept. “The countertransference,” explains Dr. Earl Hopper, “is an essential source of information about our patients. We must be able to use ourselves as communication tools, reeds in the wind or even as litmus paper.”
Freud cautioned clinicians to “recognize” countertransference and “master” it. More effective is recognizing it and using it therapeutically. In a 2005 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Ephi Betan, et al, writes, “…the clinician’s responses to the patient provide insights into patterns the patient wittingly or unwittingly evokes from significant others…” In other words, the clinician’s reaction can be useful in helping understand the patient more fully. Professionals distinguish between personal countertransference and diagnostic transference, which can be used to guide treatment.
Analysis was originally developed precisely to encourage transference because it was seen providing valuable insight. The insight gained by countertransference can be just as valuable. The key to successful treatment is to identify these feelings and bring them into the therapeutic setting.
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