If there is something that characterizes the psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud, it is the emphasis it places on 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 proposed 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. Additionally, 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
According to Freud’s theories, Every time we experience new sensations we are evoking part of past experiences that left a mark on our unconscious. Transference is precisely the way in which ideas and feelings about links with people with whom we have interacted 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 experiences related to bonds (that have been fixed in our unconscious) when interacting with someone in the present, according to Freud.
Based on the ideas of Sigmund Freud, transfers are closely related to the earliest and most emotionally relevant bonds for people, which in most cases are relationships with parental and maternal figures. The interaction with fathers and mothers (or their substitutes, according to Sigmund Freud) would leave very important marks in the unconscious, and these could manifest themselves in future transferences.
Transference during psychotherapy
Although theoretically transfer is a generalized phenomenon that occurs in our daily lives, Sigmund Freud placed special emphasis on the need to consider the effect that transference has during psychoanalysis sessions Ultimately, Freud believed, the context in which therapy is carried out does not automatically cancel out the functioning of the unconscious, and it continues to be governed by its rules.
Therefore, during the sessions, transfer can occur, which It would mean that the patient projects contents of his unconscious onto the analyst and relives emotional ties from the past In this way, according to Freud, the patient will see how his relationship with the psychoanalyst will be reminiscent of relationships already experienced, no matter how illogical it may seem. He may fall in and out of love with the analyst, dislike him, hate him as he hated an important figure from the past, etc.
But for Freud it was not bad that a transference began from the patient to the analyst. In fact, it was part of the therapy, since it created an emotional bond from which the therapist could guide the patient in resolving psychological conflicts and trauma-based blocks. In other words, transference would be a necessary ingredient for the therapeutic relationship to be oriented towards the resolution of patients’ problems.
Two types of transfer have been hypothesized: positive transfer and the negative transfer.
The countertransference
Countertransference has to do with the feelings and ideas that the analyst himself projects onto the patients from their past experiences, unconsciously.
For Sigmund Freud, it was very important that each psychoanalyst know how to detect the effects that countertransference had on their way of relating to patients and on their motivations when dealing with them. At the end of the day, he believed, analysts do not stop being human beings just because they have a specific profession and knowledge of psychoanalytic theory, and Your own unconscious can take control of the therapeutic relationship for the worse
For example, during free association it is normal for the psychoanalyst himself, based on his own subjectivity and the network of meanings, memories and unconscious beliefs, to use his own point of view to reorganize the patient’s speech into a meaningful whole that expresses what is the root of the disease. Thus, Countertransference can be understood as one of the processes that intervene in therapeutic daily life
However, some authors have decided to use a more restricted definition to refer to what the term “countertransference” means. In this way, the countertransference becomes the way in which the psychoanalyst reacts to the patient’s transferences The use of these two meanings can 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 that Freud founded. Outside of 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 inherited from the paradigms of behaviorism and cognitive psychology
The reason is that there is no objective way to establish when there is and when there is not a transference or countertransference. They are concepts that can only be used to describe states of subjectivity that, by virtue of being such, cannot be verified or quantified or used in hypotheses that can be scientifically validated. Therefore, These concepts are foreign to current scientific psychology and, in any case, they are part of the scope of the history of psychology and the humanities.
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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team at PsychologyFor to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to evidence-based research. The content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.
