Difference between revisions of "Talk:Countertransference"

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[[countertransference]] ([[French]]: ''[[contre-transfert]]'')                         
 
 
==Sigmund Freud==
 
[[Freud]] coined the term "countertransference" to designate the analyst's "unconscious feelings" towards the paitnet.
 
 
[[Freud]] used the term '[[countertransference]]' to denote the [[analyst]]'s [[unconscious]] [[feelings]] toward the [[analysand]].
 
 
Although [[Freud]] only used the term very rarely, it became much more widely used in [[psychoanalytic theory]] after his [[death]].
 
 
==After Freud==
 
In particular, [[analyst]]s soon divided over the role allotted to [[countertransference]] in discussions of [[technique]].
 
 
On the one hand, many [[analyst]]s argued that [[counter-transference]] manifestations were the result of incompletely analysed elements in the [[analyst]], and that such manifestations should therefore be reduced to a minimum by a more complete [[training]] [[analysis]].
 
 
On the other hand, some [[analyst]]s from the [[Klein]]ian [[school]], beginning with Paula Heimann, argued that the [[analyst]] should be guided in his [[interpretation]]s by his own [[countertransference]] reactions, taking his own feelings as an indicator of the [[patient]]'s state of mind.
 
 
Whereas the former group regarded [[countertransference]] as an obstacle to [[analysis]], the latter group regarded it as a useful tool.
 
 
==Jacques Lacan==
 
In the 1950s, [[Lacan]] describes [[countertransference]] as a [[resistance]], an obstacle which hinders the [[progress]] of [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]].
 
 
[[Countertransference]] is a [[resistance]] of the [[analyst]].
 
 
Thus [[Lacan]] defines [[countertransference]] as 'the sum of the prejudices, [[passion]]s, perplexities, and even the insufficient information of the [[analyst]] at a certain moment of the [[dialectic]]al process' of the [[treatment]].<ref>{{Ec}} p.225</ref>
 
 
--
 
 
[[Lacan]] refers to two of [[Freud]]'s case studies to illustrate what he means.
 
 
In 1951, he refers to the [[Dora]] case, and argues that [[Freud]]'s [[countertransference]] was rooted in his [[belief]] that [[heterosexuality]] is [[natural]] rather than [[normative]], and in his [[identification]] with Herr K.
 
 
[[Lacan]] argues that it was these two factors which caused [[Freud]] to handle the [[treatment]] badly and provoke the 'negative transference' which led to [[Dora]] breaking off the [[treatment]] <ref>[[Lacan]], 1951a</ref>.
 
 
--
 
 
In 1957 [[Lacan]] presents a similar [[analysis]] of Freud's treatment of the young homosexual woman <ref>Freud, 1920a</ref>.
 
 
He argues that when [[Freud]] [[interpreted]] the [[woman]]'s [[dream]] as expressing a wish to deceive him, he was focusing on the [[imaginary]] dimension of the [[woman]]'s [[transference]] rather than on the [[symbolic]] dimension.<ref>{{S4}} p.135</ref>.
 
 
That is, [[Freud]] interpreted the dream as something directed at him personally, rather than as something directed at the [[Other]].
 
 
[[Lacan]] argues that [[Freud]] did this because he found the [[woman]] attractive and because he identified with the [[woman]]'s [[father]].<ref>{{S4}} p.106-9</ref>.
 
 
Once again, [[Freud]]'s [[countertransference]] brought the [[treatment]] to a premature end, though this time it was [[Freud]] who decided to terminate it.
 
 
---
 
 
The preceding examples might seem to suggest that [[Lacan]] aligns himself with those [[analyst]]s who argue that the training [[analysis]] should give the [[analyst]] the capacity to transcend all affective reactions to the [[patient]].
 
 
However, [[Lacan]] absolutely rejects this point of view, which he dismisses as a 'stoical ideal' <ref>{{S8}} p.219</ref>.
 
 
The [[training]] [[analysis]] does not put the [[analyst]] beyond [[passion]], and to believe that it does would be to believe that all the passions stem from the [[unconscious]], an idea which [[Lacan]] rejects.
 
 
If anything, the better analysed the [[analyst]] is, the more likely he is to be frankly in [[love]] with, or be quite repulsed by, the [[analysand]].<ref>{{S8}} p.220</ref>.
 
 
If, then, the [[analyst]] does not act on the basis of these [[feeling]]s, it is not because his [[training]] [[analysis]] has drained away his [[passion]]s, but because it has given him a [[desire]] which is even stronger than those [[passion]]s, a [[desire]] which [[Lacan]] calls the [[desire of the [[analyst]]]].<ref>{{S8}} p.220-1</ref>
 
 
---
 
 
Hence [[Lacan]] does not entirely reject Paula Heimann's position.
 
 
He accepts that [[analyst]]s have [[feeling]]s towards their [[patient]]s, and that sometimes the [[analyst]] can direct the [[treatment]] better by reflecting on these [[feeling]]s.
 
 
For example, if [[Freud]] had reflected a bit more on his feelings towards the young homosexual [[woman]], he might have avoided interpreting her [[dream]] as a [[message]] addressed directly to him.<ref>{{S4}} p.108</ref>.
 
 
<blockquote>
 
No one has ever said that the [[analyst]] should never have feelings towards his [[patient]]. But he must know not only not to give into them, to keep them in their place, but also how to make adequate use of them in his technique.<ref>{{S1}} p.32</ref></blockquote>
 
 
If [[countertransference]] is condemned by [[Lacan]], then, it is because he defines it not in terms of affects felt by the [[analyst]], but as the [[analyst]]'s failure to use those affects appropriately.
 
 
---
 
 
In the 1960s [[Lacan]] becomes very critical of the term [[countertransference]].
 
 
He argues that it connotes a symmetrical relationship between the [[analyst]] and the [[analysand]], whereas the [[transference]] is anything but a symmetrical relationship.
 
 
When speaking of the [[analyst]]'s position it is both misleading and unnecessary to use the term [[countertransference]]; it is sufficient to speak of the different ways in which the [[analyst]] and [[analysand]] are implicated in the [[transference]] <ref>{{S8}} p.233</ref>.
 
 
"The [[transference]] is a phenomenon in which [[subject]] and psycho-analyst are both included. To divide it in terms of [[transference]] and [[counter-transference]] . . . is never more than a way of avoiding the essence of the matter."<ref>{{S11}} p.231</ref>.
 
  
 
==def==
 
==def==
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The mantra "only connect" is often associated with this effect.
 
The mantra "only connect" is often associated with this effect.
 
==See Also==
 
* [[Transference]]
 
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
 
[[Category:Psychotherapy]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Freudian psychology]]
 
[[Category:Neurosis]]
 
[[Category:Treatment]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 

Latest revision as of 10:13, 24 August 2006

def

Countertransference is a term in psychotherapy, denoting a condition where the therapist, as a result of the therapy sessions, begins to transfer the therapist's own repressed feelings to the patient.

It is also defined as the entire body of feelings that the therapist has toward the patient.

Countertransference is defined in oppositon to transference, where a person in therapy begins to transfer feelings to the therapist.

For example, the person in therapy may begin to look at the therapist as if the therapist were the patient's mother, transferring their feelings for the real mother to the therapist.

This is considered a positive sign in psychoanalytic therapy, showing that the patient is making progress.

In On Becoming a Counselor, Eugene Kennedy states that countertransferencehas the potential to be present in any counseling relationship.

He states that it is often one of the biggest challenges for a new counselor to overcome, and while there is no way to totally overcome the problem of counter-transference learning to not let countertransferenceaffect a counseling relationship is key.

The mantra "only connect" is often associated with this effect.