J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2016 Nov;55(4):321-333. 10.4306/jknpa.2016.55.4.321.

Concept of Countertransference

• Choi Y

• KMID: 2361221
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2016.55.4.321

Abstract

Freud originally defined countertransference as "a result of the patient's influence on (the analyst's) unconscious feelings." The result of uncontrolled countertransference is a loss of analytic neutrality. Beginning circa 1950, the literature on countertransference reflected an increasing awareness of the clinical importance of the phenomenon, and there was a significant expansion of the meaning of the term beyond that in Freud's original definition. Moreover, many clinicians began dealing with countertransference as a tool for understanding the analysand. In the 1980s and 1990s, countertransference emerged as an area of common ground among psychoanalysts with diverse theoretical perspectives. This convergence can be traced to the development of two key concepts- projective identification and countertransference enactment. Within the intersubjectivity theory, countertransference is an amalgam of the therapist's response to therapeutic reality with the influence of past experiences on the immediate responses of both patient and therapist. Currently, although there are many differences among the diverse theoretical schools of psychoanalytic thought, there is an area of convergence regarding the usefulness of countertransference in understanding the analysand. In addition, there is widespread acknowledgement that an inevitable aspect of analysis is that a patient will treat the analyst as a transference object. Moreover, the analyst's countertransference reaction is a joint creation that includes contributions from both patient and analyst.

Keyword

Countertransference; Freud; Projective identification; Countertransference enactment; Intersubjectivity

MeSH Terms

Countertransference (Psychology)*
Humans
Joints

Reference

1. Bird B. Notes on transference: universal phenomenon and hardest part of analysis. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1972; 20:267–301.

2. Tyson RL. Countertransference evolution in theory and practice. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1986; 34:251–274.

3. Gabbard GO. Countertransference: the emerging common ground. Int J Psychoanal. 1995; 76(Pt 3):475–485.

4. Freud S. The future prospects of psycho-analytic therapy. London: Hogarth press;1910. Vol 11:p. 144–145.

5. Freud S. Recommendations to physicians practicing psycho-analysis. London: Hogarth press;1912. Vol 12:p. 115.

6. Freud S. Observations on transference-love. London: Hogarth press;1915. Vol 12:p. 160–164.

7. Orr DW. Transference and counter-transference: a historical survey. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1954; 2:621–670.

8. Racker H. The meanings and uses of countertransference. 1957. Psychoanal Q. 2007; 76:725–777. discussion 795-815.

9. Moore BE, Fine BD. Psychoanalytic terms and concepts. New Haven: Yale University Press;1990.

10. Freud S. Freud/Jung Letters. 1909. Cited from Tyson RL. Countertransference evolution in theory and practice. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1986; 34:251–274.

11. Heimann P. On counter-transference. Int J Psychoanal. 1950; 31:81–84.

12. Freud S. Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press;1916-1917. Vol 16:p. 459.

13. Little M. Countertransference and the patient’s response to it. Int J Psychoanal. 1951; 32:32–40.

14. Tower LE. Countertransference. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1956; 4:224–255.

15. Balint M. Changing therapeutic aims and techniques in psychoanalysis. Int J Psychoanal. 1950; 31:117–124.

16. Fairbairn WRD. The repression and the return of bad objects (with special reference to the ‘War Neuroses’)(1943). In : Fairbairn WRD, editor. Psychoanalytic studies of the personality. London: Routledge;1994. p. 59–81.

17. Money-Kyrle RE. Normal counter-transference and some of its deviations. Int J Psychoanal. 1956; 37:360–366.

18. Racker H. A contribution to the problem of counter-transference. Int J Psychoanal. 1953; 34:313–324.

19. Racker H. The meanings and uses of countertransference. Psychoanal Q. 1957; 26:303–357.

20. Klein M. Notes on some schizoid mechanisms (1946). In : Klein M, editor. Envy and gratitude and other works, 1946-1963. London: Hogarth;1975.

21. Bion WR. Differentiation of the psychotic from the non-psychotic personalities. Int J Psychoanal. 1957; 38:266–275.

22. Bion WR. On arrogance. Int J Psychoanal. 1958; 39:144–146.

23. Bion WR. Attacks on Linking. Int J Psychoanal. 1959; 40:308–315.

24. Bion WR. The psycho-analytic study of thinking. A theor of thinking. Int J Psychoanal. 1962; 43:306–310.

25. Ogden TH. On projective identification. Int J Psychoanal. 1979; 60(Pt 3):357–373.

26. Grinberg L. Countertransference and projective counteridentification. Contemp Psychoanal. 1979; 15:226–247.

27. Sandler J. On communication from patient to analyst: not everything is projective identification. Int J Psychoanal. 1993; 74(Pt 6):1097–1107.

28. Sandler J. Countertransference and role-responsiveness. Int Rev Psychoanal. 1976; 3:43–47.

29. Enactments in psychoanalysis. Panel report. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1992; 40:827–841.

30. Jacobs TJ. On countertransference enactments. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1986; 34:289–307.

31. McLaughlin JT. Clinical and theoretical aspects of enactment. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1991; 39:595–614.

32. Chused JF. The evocative power of enactments. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1991; 39:615–639.

33. Jacobs TJ. The inner experiences of the analyst: their contribution to the analytic process. Int J Psychoanal. 1993; 74(Pt 1):7–14.

34. Renik O. Analytic interaction: conceptualizing technique in light of the analyst’s irreducible subjectivity. Psychoanal Q. 1993; 62:553–571.

35. Ogden TH. The concept of interpretive action. Psychoanal Q. 1994; 63:219–245.

36. Roughton RE. Useful aspects of acting out: repetition, enactment, and actualization. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1993; 41:443–472.

37. Minolli M, Tricoli ML. Solving the problems of duality: the third and self-consciousness. Psychoanal Q. 2004; 73:137–166.

38. Eagle M. Enactments, transference, and symptomatic cure: a case history. Psychoanal Dialogues. 1993; 3:93–110.

39. Aron L. Symposium on the meaning and practice of intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis: introduction. Psychoanal Dialogues. 1996; 6:591–597.

40. Lachmann F. A requiem for countertransference. Paper presented at the 11th International Forum of Psychoanalysis; New York: 2000 May 4-7. Cited from Minolli M, Tricoli ML. Solving the problem of duality: the third and self-consciousness. Psychoanal Q. 2004; 73:137–166.

41. Hoffman IZ. The patient as interpreter of the analyst’s experience. Contemp Psychoanal. 1983; 19:389–422.

42. Hoffman IZ. Dialectical thinking and therapeutic action in the psychoanalytic process. Psychoanal Q. 1994; 63:187–218.

43. Aron L. The patient’s experience of the analyst’s subjectivity. Psychoanal Dialogues. 1991; 1:29–51.

44. Natterson JM, Friedman RJ. A primer of clinical intersubjectivity. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson;1995. p. 5–6.

45. Atwood G, Stolorow R. Structures of subjectivity: explorations in psychoanalytic phenomenology. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press;1984.