Transference
Also known as Countertransference, Übertragung
Old feelings about important people, unconsciously redirected onto someone in the present.
At a glance
In plain words
The past in the present, Not only in therapy, Usually harmless …
See all 4Examples of transference and countertransference
Mistrust from an old relationship, Compliance from an old friendship, In the session …
See all 8How therapists use it
From obstacle to tool, A window on childhood, Watching countertransference …
See all 4Connections
Psychodynamic psychotherapy, Sigmund Freud and 4 others
See all 6
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Transference is when feelings, wishes or fears from an earlier relationship are unconsciously projected onto someone now.
- Traditionally the source is a primary relationship in childhood.
- In therapy the client may feel toward the therapist as toward a parent.
- Freud first saw it as a threat to treatment, then as its best tool.
- Countertransference is the therapist's own emotional pull toward the client.
Why it matters
- It explains why we sometimes react to people more strongly than the moment deserves, and it is the engine of psychodynamic therapy.
Key facts
- In short
- Repeating old feelings, attitudes or desires toward a here-and-now person1
- First described by
- Sigmund Freud, as an important part of psychoanalytic treatment1
- Forms
- Erotic attraction, rage, mistrust, extreme dependence, or seeing the therapist as a guru1
- In everyday life
- Mistrusting someone who resembles an ex-spouse, or deferring to someone like a childhood friend1
- Counterpart
- Countertransference: the therapist's feelings toward the client1
In plain words
-
The past in the present1
Meeting someone who reminds us of a person we knew, we unconsciously assume they share that person's traits.
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Not only in therapy1
People commonly transfer feelings about their parents onto partners or children.
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Usually harmless1
It counts as a problem only when it causes personal or social harm.
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Research1
A social-cognitive line of research has shown how people repeat relationship patterns from the past in the present.
Examples of transference and countertransference
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Mistrust from an old relationship1
Someone mistrusts a new person who resembles their ex-spouse in manner, voice or appearance.
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Compliance from an old friendship1
Someone is overly compliant with a person who resembles a childhood friend.
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In the session1
For example, a client whose parent was quick to criticise becomes convinced the therapist is disappointed in them, though the therapist has said nothing critical.
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The therapist as guru1
For example, a client treats every remark of the therapist as wise and beyond question, the way they once looked up to a revered parent.
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Freud's discovery1
When a patient refused to free-associate, Freud first took it for resistance; he came to see that analysing the transference was the work that needed doing.
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Countertransference: a protective pull2
A therapist badly wants a client to get good grades at university because the client reminds her of her own children at that age and the worries she had then.
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Countertransference: an old hurt2
A therapist who got too little attention from her father experiences a client as too distant and resents him for it.
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Using countertransference2
A therapist attracted to a patient looks at how the patient might be eliciting it, then asks the patient about their feelings toward the therapist and what fears or wishes those connect to.
How therapists use it
-
From obstacle to tool1
Freud wrote that the transference, "which seemed in every case to constitute the greatest threat to the treatment, becomes its best tool".
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A window on childhood1
Psychodynamic therapists use it to reveal unresolved conflicts with childhood figures.
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Watching countertransference1
A therapist's own reactions help regulate the relationship and hint at what the client may be eliciting.
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A different view1
Classical Adlerian therapy points transference out as an obstacle to cooperation rather than using it.
Connections
Related
- Sigmund FreudPersonFirst described it
- A Secure BaseBookReads transference as old working models imposed on the therapist
- Outpatient psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder: randomized trial of schema-focused therapy vs transference-focused psychotherapyPaperThe comparison therapy works through the transference
- Introductory Lectures on Psycho-AnalysisBookLecture 27 is on transference
- Therapeutic allianceTopicFreud first framed the working relationship as positive transference
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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