If there is something that characterizes the psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud, it is the emphasis he places on the psychological processes that theoretically occur unconsciously and direct our way of acting, thinking and feeling.

Psychoanalysis was born as an attempt to understand human psychology , but it was also raised as a tool made to deal with the unwelcome effects of having an unconscious that is too “rebellious”. An unconscious that, surreptitiously, guides and influences our way of acting at every moment.In addition, there are two concepts created to monitor the effect that unconscious forces have on the relationship between patient and analyst. These are transference and countertransference .

What is transference in psychoanalysis?

According to Freud’s theories, every time we experience new sensations we are evoking part of the past experiences that left a mark in our unconscious. Transference is precisely the way in which ideas and feelings about links with people we have related to before are projected onto another person, even if it is the first time we see them.

Therefore, transference is the way in which the human mind relives certain bonding experiences (which have become fixed in our unconscious) when interacting with someone in the present, according to Freud.

Based on Sigmund Freud’s ideas, the transfers are closely related to the earliest and most emotionally relevant bonds for people , which in most cases are the relationships with parental and maternal figures. The interaction with parents (or their substitutes, according to Sigmund Freud) would leave very important marks in the unconscious, and these could manifest themselves in future transfers.

Transference during psychotherapy

Although theoretically the transference is a generalized phenomenon that occurs in our day-to-day life, Sigmund Freud put special emphasis on the need to consider the effect that the transference has during the sessions of psychoanalysis . In the end, Freud believed, the context in which the therapy takes place does not automatically annul the functioning of the unconscious, and it continues to be governed by its rules.

Therefore, during the sessions the transference may occur, which would mean that the patient projects onto the analyst the contents of his unconscious and revives affective bonds from the past . In this way, according to Freud, the patient will see how his or her relationship with the psychoanalyst will be reminiscent of relationships already lived, however illogical this may seem. They will be able to fall in and out of love with the analyst, feel aversion for him, hate him as they hated an important figure from the past, etc.

But for Freud it was not bad to initiate a transfer from the patient to the analyst. In fact, it was part of the therapy, as it created an emotional bond from which the therapist could guide the patient in resolving psychological conflicts and trauma-based blocks. In other words, the transference would be a necessary ingredient for the therapeutic relationship to be oriented towards the resolution of the patient’s problems.

Types of transfers

Two types of transfer have been hypothesised: the positive transfer and the negative transfer .

  • The positive transference is that in which the affections projected towards the analyst are friendly or related to love. This type of transference is desirable if it is not very intense, but if it becomes too intense it is very harmful, since it leads to romantic infatuation, obsession and an extreme eroticization of the therapeutic relationship that marks the end of it.
  • The negative transference is based on feelings of hate and aversion towards the psychoanalyst. Of course, if it is given with too much intensity it can ruin the sessions.

Countertransference

Countertransference has to do with the feelings and ideas that the analyst himself projects on the patients from their past experiences, in an unconscious way.

For Sigmund Freud it was very important that each psychoanalyst knew how to detect the effects that countertransference had on his way of relating to patients and on his motivations when dealing with them. In the end, he believed, analysts do not cease to be human beings just because they have a specific profession and knowledge of psychoanalytic theory, and their own unconscious can take over the therapeutic relationship for evil .

For example, during free association it is normal that the psychoanalyst himself, based on his own subjectivity and the network of meanings, memories and unconscious beliefs, uses his own point of view to reorganize the patient’s discourse into a meaningful whole that expresses what the root of the illness is. In this way, countertransference can be understood as one of the processes that intervene in everyday therapy .

However, some authors have decided to use a more restricted definition to refer to what the term “countertransference” means. Thus, countertransference becomes the way in which the psychoanalyst reacts to the patient’s transfers . The use of these two meanings may cause confusion, because they are very different: one applies to specific moments, while the other encompasses the entire therapeutic process in psychoanalysis.

Transference and Countertransference in Psychology

Both transference and countertransference, as concepts, were born with the psychoanalytic current founded by Freud. Outside the psychodynamic current to which psychoanalysis belongs, they are ideas taken into account in some eclectic approaches, such as Gestalt therapy, but they have no real value for the psychology that is heir to the paradigms of behaviorism and cognitive psychology .

The reason is that there is no objective way to establish when there is and is not a transfer or countertransfer. These are concepts that can only be used to describe states of subjectivity that, because of their nature, cannot be tested or quantified or used in hypotheses that can be scientifically validated.Therefore, these concepts are alien to current scientific psychology and, in any case, are part of the field of history of psychology and the humanities.

Bibliographic references:

  • Roudinesco, Elisabeth (2015). Freud. In his time and ours. Madrid: Editorial Debate.