transference - Transference and counter-transference during psychotherapy

In psychiatry, the unconscious attachment of feelings originally associated with significant early figures in one's life (eg parents) to others (particularly to the psychotherapist). In psychotherapy this allows for the exploration of a patient's early difficulties which have remained unresolved. The term was coined by Freud in 1895.

Transference is a phenomenon in psychology characterized by unconscious redirection of feelings of one person to another. One definition of transference is "the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood." Transference was first described by Sigmund Freud, who acknowledged its importance for psychoanalysis for better understanding of the patient's feelings.

It is common for people to transfer feelings from their parents to their partners (emotional incest) or to children (cross-generational entanglements).

In The Psychology of the Transference, Carl Jung states that within the transference dyad both participants typically experience a variety of opposites, that in love and in psychological growth, the key to success is the ability to endure the tension of the opposites without abandoning the process, and that this tension allows one to grow and to transform.

Transference is common.

There is, however, an experimental, new theory of transference known as AMT (Abusive Multiple Transference), put forth by David W. This kind of transference is sometimes part of the psychological makeup of murderers -- for example the serial killer Carroll Cole.

AMT also ties in very closely with Power/Control Killers, as the feeling and view of control is passed from one abuser to those proceeding him or her.

Transference and counter-transference during psychotherapy

In a therapy context, transference refers to redirection of a client's feelings from a significant person to a therapist. Transference is often manifested as an erotic attraction towards a therapist. Although transference is often characterized as a useful tool for building trust between a client and a therapist, transference can also interfere with a therapist’s ability to help a client.

Counter-transference is defined as redirection of a therapist's feelings toward a client, or more generally as a therapist's emotional entanglement with a client.