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Countertransference (CT) is now recognized as the most important tool in psychodynamic procedures. Despite extensive practical and theoretical research on the patient's interpersonal patterns reflected in the countertransference, little is known about the therapist's contribution to this phenomenon. A difficulty in studying this aspect is the recording of a phenomenon that many researchers unconsciously understand as ego-syntonic. So far, the topic has primarily been approached through case reports by clinically active authors. This article provides a comprehensive review of the empirical research on this subject, drawing on a systematic search of scientific databases. The systematic search was performed using the electronic databases PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PubMed and PSYNDEX and finally included 10 publications in the analysis after title and abstract screening of 1037 studies. It became clear that the studies included vary significantly in their definitions of therapist contribution and countertransference as well as their attempts to measure them. To address the therapistʼs contribution in the context of countertransference events an extension of the concept of Hayes is proposed, which integrates therapist personality traits and attitudes, sociodemographic characteristics, and biographical experiences (subjective assessments versus objective information) to better capture the therapist's role in countertransference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article "Ronald Baker (1993) The Patient's Discovery of the Psychoanalyst as a New Object," Ronald Baker examines the role of transference in psychoanalysis. He emphasizes the importance of the analytic setting and refers to the works of James Strachey and Hans G. Loewald. Baker describes a case study in which he himself became the object of rejection and emphasizes the significance of surviving such attacks for potential change. He explains that the discovery of the analyst as a new object is a prerequisite for changes in the ego and its object relations. Baker compares this discovery to Christopher Bollas' concept of the "transformational object." Another work by Baker, "Finding the Neutral Position," deals with the inner work of the analyst. The article discusses the therapeutic effect of psychoanalysis and the role of transference and countertransference in analysis. It is emphasized that perceiving a new object in analysis requires careful analysis of transference. The analyst should be receptive to transferences but not act as a transference object. It is also noted that distinguishing between countertransference reaction and actual countertransference is important. The discovery of the analyst as a new object allows the patient a new perspective on their internal objects. It is emphasized that this discovery is a prerequisite for reorganizing the ego and its object relations. [Extracted from the article]

This paper argues that the distinction between the dynamic and the descriptive unconscious is in danger of being lost and indicates some of the practical, clinical consequences of this loss. It does so against the background of Freud’s own struggles with his radical conception of the dynamic unconscious as ultimately unknown, as they appear in the revisions of The Interpretation of Dreams, invoking Laplanche’s recognition of Freud’s Copernican Revolution and the temptation he felt to make a Ptolemaic Return. It also comments on confusion about whether feelings can be said to be unconscious and the implications of this confusion for clinical practice, especially for our understanding of the concepts of transference and countertransference. An extended analysis of a dream is presented to show the dynamic unconscious in action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the importance of malignant regression in analytic treatment in terms of how such processes can be detected and limited as well as how they should be dealt with over the course of the treatment process. Different meanings of regression in psychoanalysis are briefly discussed, focussing on how and in which cases the treatment technique for fostering regressive processes can be helpful, namely in the perspective on regression under the aspect of an opening up or closing of an analytical space. The concepts of regression and malignant regression are considered in relation to other concepts. In this respect, the relation to an intact psychoanalytic framework proves to be pivotal as well as the perspective that malignant regression hinders a working through of negative countertransference. The article ends in a proposal for an ethical stance in psychoanalysis that consists of taking all psychologic instances into account in a balanced way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the view of the author the concept of regression has been explicitly little discussed in recent years, even though it implicitly represents a psychoanalytic concept that is known and used by everyone. She therefore recalls Balint's concept of distinguishing between malignant and benign regression and attempts to show how these two forms of regression can be distinguished clinically and through countertransference. The core of malignant regression is ultimately the lack of separation between subject and object. First of all, knowledge of the concepts, awareness of the danger of malignant regression and its limitation are decisive for dealing with regressive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One essential albeit often neglected aspect of dreams is that we dream in images. Freud repeatedly emphasized the hallucinatory quality of dream images: the dreamer does not see the images, but experiences them. Without the experiential character of the dream, there would be no wish fulfillment, because it is the appearance of the real that the wish needs. In this way, the hallucinatory dream image is the guardian of the wish. The body image is of extraordinary importance in dreams. Through such dream images, the analyst can gain insight into their patients’ unconscious representations of their body. If the patient manages to accept these rejected ideas as their own, the dream can become a transitional object for them. Crucial to this process are the sensations that have been incorporated into the body images and become incapacitated. What remains of these dormant sensations can be aroused through analytical work. Gradually, the autoerotic cathexis of the previously rejected body images becomes possible. This deepens the patient’s capacity to be alone. These reflections are elaborated in this paper with the help of various patients’ dreams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I will try to show how the chimera, as I understand it, is the result of an unsettling encounter between the traumatic traces of the two protagonists, culminating in a process of reverie, a process, indeed, of hallucinatory emergence, in which a creature emerges from the emotional embers of their traumatic clay. Although I take up Michel de M’Uzan’s notion of depersonalization, I would like to show how my understanding of a chimera filled with sensory qualities is different from his. Back in 2016, I spoke of the unconscious and clandestine agreement of the traumatic traces of both protagonists, from which I think it emerges. This conception seemed to me to reposition the question of the subjective and intersubjective effect of the two protagonists in the session, reaching into their deepest interior, since this »mythical creature«, to use de M’Uzan’s words, emerges from in between them during the analyst’s reverie, expanding into depersonalization. Not only does it arise from the dispositif that contains the emotional truth of the patient and of the analyst, but it also completes the attainment of O, that ultimate reality by which the analyst abolishes their ego by becoming one exclusively with the emotions of the patient. In the first section I will discuss in detail the metapsychology from which de M’Uzan recasts his conception of the chimera, followed by that of James Grotstein, who insists on the agency of projective identification, and finally I will address de M’Uzan’s challenge to the Kleinian approach through his conception of the »vital-identital«, which delineates a field of self-preservation infused with unheard-of energies. With the help of an example, I will try to show that when this creature emerges from the very deepest intimacy of each couple, it comes from the greatest distance and mixes the species based on what is most affective in the transitional characters of the infantile. I will follow a path that connects the Freudian memory traces of 1896 with Bion’s rejection of memory in the session in favor of O – that ultimate reality achieved through the experience of oneness or »at-one-ment« when the analyst, confronted with the patient’s emotional experience, draws on his or her own corresponding emotional resources. Evidence for this will be provided by a detailed example of a chimera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the commentary by Jutta Gutwinski-Jeggle, the intuitive imagination of psychoanalyst Johannes Picht is discussed, who noticed a striking coincidence between his idea and a patient's narrative about a serious car accident. The author raises the question of how this coincidence fits with Freud's statement about transference and countertransference. She suggests that the story of the accident could be a cover memory that conceals an earlier, unconscious trauma. The joint work on defense mechanisms leads to a deeper relationship between the patient and the analyst. However, the psychoanalytic framework can be experienced as unbearable and attacked. The author concludes by emphasizing the importance of accepting the decisions of the patients. The text discusses various concepts and approaches in psychoanalysis, particularly in relation to truth and the representation of unrepresented states. It is emphasized that truth is constructed in the psychoanalytic process and depends on the relationship between analyst and patient. The text refers to various authors such as Picht, von Uexküll, and Winnicott to explain these concepts. It is also noted that interpretations and hypotheses in psychoanalysis should not be considered as historical truth, but as attempts to create meaning and continue living. [Extracted from the article]

Knowledge arising from the clinician’s bodily sensations and visual imagination are considered through a clinical example where disruption to the setting culminated in the psychotherapist developing temporarily incapacitating physical symptoms in the consulting room. A subsequent imaginative visualisation allowed the clinician to attribute meaning to the moment of rupture, thus allowing her to use this bodily reaction as a way of gaining intuitive insight into the patient’s emotional state. This process is understood with reference to Bleger’s (1967) ideas about the setting as an institution, Lemma’s (2014) work on the embodied setting, and Sapisochin’s (2013, 2019) notion of enactments as representations of psychic gestures. Another example from the literature is used to further the suggestion that the clinician’s visual imagination can sometimes be used to enable a differentiation from a fusional aspect of the transference – countertransference dynamic and thereby increase their understanding of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comment by Jan Abram in the Yearbook of Psychoanalysis deals with the topics of transference, self-disclosure, and asymmetry in psychoanalysis. Abram emphasizes the importance of transference in clinical work and explains that it is asymmetrical and develops over time. He also discusses the role of the analyst's self-disclosure and the necessity to remain neutral. A clinical example of a patient named Emma is described, who suffers from relationship difficulties and self-hatred. The text ends with the question of whether Emma is angry at her analyst and how the analyst understands the concept of transference. It also highlights how Emma takes responsibility for her analyst's annoyance and apologizes for it. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Transfer onto the body and the language registers of the analytic session: Commentary on Sebastian Leikert's The Analytic Attitude and the Unconscious of the Body," Riccardo Lombardi describes the significance of the body and the body-mind relationship in psychoanalytic therapy. Lombardi emphasizes the importance of the body-mind relationship in contemporary psychoanalysis and calls for recognition of the autonomous status of the body in psychoanalysis. The text discusses the connection between the body and the mind in psychoanalysis and mentions the encapsulation of traumatic experiences in the body. It is emphasized that a comprehensive approach is necessary to both the sensory and symbolic levels and that the concrete treatment of the real body should be taken into account in analysis. The author also criticizes the tendency to monopolize unconscious fantasies and systematic interpretation of transference, emphasizing the importance of keeping the present moment of the psychoanalytic session in focus. [Extracted from the article]

With the terms horizon of expectation and transitional space mentioned in the title, some basic features of the psychoanalytic cure are named. They serve as a starting point to describe the mode as well as the goal of psychoanalytic supervision. Supervision works on and with the transitional space and horizon of expectation, helps the therapist to establish them or expand them. The term supervision is subjected to a critical revision. The psychodynamic factors that have to be dealt with in supervision are presented, especially the transference and countertransference processes taking place in the supervisory relationship but also other pitfalls that can endanger supervision and that must be taken into account. Instead of a summarizing closing remark a very old Chinese story is told and used to characterize the role of supervision in psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the modes of contact and the developmental steps that came out of the high-frequency analysis of an isolated young patient and the corresponding counter-transference feeling of »closest distance«. With this concept, the paper examines the seemingly contradictory experience of both great closeness and vast distance in such a way that they can be viewed as complementary. The paper will examine this variable and emergent experience and will show how room for developing new relationship possibilities could develop out of the transference-countertransference experiences that take place in the communities and games available in the complex world of the internet. The question will be discussed as to how far the term hikikomori, coined in Japan for young people who have totally withdrawn from society, can be helpful in the treatment of secluded patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work examines the irritating awareness of the culturally conditioned attachment of one's own perceptions of gender difference and identity. The article addresses the uncertainties both personal and also theoretical, when we consider gender not only as biologically natural as in Freud but also as socially, culturally and historically constructed. These irritations and (un)certainties in gender, which masquerade as certainties, become apparent in a psychoanalytic treatment of a trans man and become active in the analyst's countertransference. Being able to hold gender irritations and (un)certainties within oneself is seen as an equally important task as avoiding a slide into pathologization and standardization of the gender in the thinking of the treating psychoanalyst and in psychoanalytic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the mutism-like falling silent of a patient in the analysis, in this article the author deals with the psychodynamic meaning of this phenomenon in the transference process. She understands falling silent here, as distinguished from the phenomenon of being silent, as an expression of a structurally early defense against unintegratedness, resulting in the collapse of language-related communication. The analytic relationship thus assumes characteristics of an adhesive pseudo-object relationship. Dealing with her countertransference, in which a sense of touch contrasted with an intense experience of meaninglessness, enabled the author to understand her sense of touch also as a countertransference resistance and to open herself to the perception of the nameless dread that was being mediated. Accompanied by theoretical reflection, this process of understanding is traced here. Based on her countertransference, the author illuminates the phenomenon of falling silent, first with regard to its possible function of forming a second skin to shield an autistic core, then in its effect on the analytic relationship, in which the analyst is deobjectified as a container and thus as a three-dimensional psychic object and finally with regard to whether the very quality of falling silent could in fact serve to communicate an ineffable, traumatically split off experience of psychic nonexistence. Emphasis is given to the special importance of the containment of the countertransference in the analysis of autistic transferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Technik. Zur Dialektik der psychoanalytischen Praxis" by Fritz Morgenthaler deals with various aspects of psychoanalysis. The author, a psychoanalyst, traveler, painter, and juggler, emphasizes the importance of the emotional offering of the analyst and the role of countertransference in the psychoanalytic relationship. He values maintaining the coherence of the analysand and creates a safe space for psychological upheavals. Morgenthaler combines various psychoanalytic theories and techniques and emphasizes the power of the unconscious in the transference during a psychoanalytic session. Psychoanalysis does not allow for progress, but rather transformations. [Extracted from the article]

The present study examines the role of autistic reverie and sensory manifestations in psychoanalytic transference. Using a clinical case, it is shown how autistic reverie can arise suddenly and allow the analyst access to protomental areas. The study emphasizes the importance of sensory communication and the analyst's identification with the patient's emotional experience. The text also describes various types of transformations that can occur in the transference/countertransference situation and emphasizes the importance of the analyst's psychoanalytic attitude. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Transference-Countertransference from a Bionian Perspective," Rudi Vermote discusses transference-countertransference from the perspective of Wilfred Bion. He examines various dimensions that Bion has developed and integrates them into a zone model of transference-countertransference. This model takes into account reason, the dynamic unconscious, and an undifferentiated, non-representable zone. The article demonstrates how these zones interact during a session and can open up new possibilities in psychoanalysis. The text describes the definition of a "hindering object" by Jeffrey Eaton. A hindering object is an internal object that maintains psychological pain, violence, and attacks, and blocks the possibility of accepting help and participating in analytic transformation. The text also explains Bion's model of psychic functioning and the use of the grid to capture thoughts and feelings in communication between analyst and analysand. It also addresses the transformations of the psychoanalytic object in transference and countertransference, which can occur differently depending on the level of transformation. The text also mentions the role of countertransference and how the analyst deals with the transformations of the psychoanalytic object. The text discusses the different roles of the patient and the analyst in psychoanalysis. It notes that in psychotic patients, the phenomenon of role reversal is even more pronounced. The text also describes the effects of the emotional field on the analyst's intuition and explains how transformations occur in K and O. It emphasizes that the analyst should remain in position K while the patient can be in positions L, H, and K. The text concludes with a zonal perspective on the transference-countertransference process and describes the three zones of psychic functioning: reason, transformation in K, and transformation in O. The text describes the different zones of psychic functioning and the significance of transference-countertransference dynamics in psychoanalysis. In the second zone, emotional patterns and images are perceived and integrated through dream thoughts. In the third zone, there is no distinction between inner and outer world, which can lead to a deep intuitive contact. An example is given where a dream of the analyst and the patient are surprisingly similar, suggesting a connection on the level of the third zone. The text emphasizes the importance of work in all three zones and the challenge for the analyst to open up to the non-representable third zone. The article describes the possibility of achieving a state of empty-mindedness in psychoanalysis, which is close to the third zone. This state, which includes no memory, desire, understanding, coherence, or senses, allows for change and healing. The analyst should blank themselves and be in a state of reverie to be open to spontaneous chains of associations. Through contact with the third zone, psychic changes can occur, and a deeper form of containment can be achieved. This approach enriches psychoanalysis and provides favorable conditions for work in the transference-countertransference field. The article discusses the phenomenon of transference-countertransference from a Bionian perspective. It examines various dimensions, including the field-matrix concept, the mentalizing approach, the appearance and transformation of psychoanalytic objects, and an approach to infinity. These different approaches are integrated into a zone model. [Extracted from the article]

The article "The End of Transference: A Contemporary Freudian Perspective" describes the work of a member of the British Contemporary Freudian Tradition. The author examines the end or purpose of transference and argues that the goal of transference is to end it, at least in its most problematic forms. They discuss key concepts such as transference, compulsive repetition, the analyst as a new object of development, and the real relationship. The article concludes with thoughts on the analyst's hope, which manifests in psychoanalysis as a developmental process in which transference plays a central role. [Extracted from the article]

The article "A Look at the Interpretation of Transference from a Freudian-Kleinian Perspective and Why Only This Change Can Be Achieved Through Analysis" explains why, from a Kleinian perspective, only the interpretation of transference can bring about analytical change. It elucidates the Kleinian understanding and use of transference interpretation in comparison to alternative practices. It demonstrates how the Kleinian approach to transference is connected to a specific Freudian-Kleinian perspective on truth and the role of analysis. Clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate the ideas. [Extracted from the article]

The article "Editorial" in the Yearbook of Psychoanalysis deals with the concept of transference in psychoanalysis. The term transference originates from Sigmund Freud and refers to the transfer of unconscious ideas onto another person, especially the doctor. The understanding of transference has changed over time and has been associated with interpersonal dynamics and the concept of the object. The article contains contributions from various authors who present their understanding of transference. Different interpretations and approaches to psychoanalytic theory are discussed. [Extracted from the article]

This study deals with countertransference on the part of observers in analytical groups. It complements an earlier study by the same team on participants' feelings towards observers. In a content analytic evaluation of an anonymous survey conducted among group observers, only around a third of all response items, interestingly, referred to the observer's feelings towards participants, whereas about half of the items referred to the observer's own position as an observing person, and the remainder to the group leaders and other staff. In contrast, in the preceding complementary study almost all response items referred to the group participant's feelings towards observers. Almost all observers reported positive, sympathetic states of feeling touched or moved, while negative feelings towards participants were the exception. Where states of stress were reported, they referred to the setting or to situations by which the respondent felt stressed or productively impacted. Participants were found to be viewed consistently as individuals who were following a path that also concerned the observers themselves. The accompanying supervision was described as valuable and beneficial. By contrast, perceptions contained very little evidence in favour of views found in the literature according to which observers are able to provide support to group leaders by giving them feedback or by offering insight, through analysis of their own feelings, into unaddressed issues within the group. In a different setting this resource could possibly be made better use of. Clear evidence was found of idealizing transference from observers to group leaders. This can be readily explained as a natural phase in developing an identity as a therapist. The response items confirm the assumption that an important function of observers lies in "neutralizing participants' superego". Conversely, the reflective setting helped observers to attenuate their superego traits, thus promoting a lively development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Works of art can due to their abstractness mirror expectations toward certain groups. Often, subliminal fears and conceptions of wishes shape these expectations. Especially in crime movies, a curious doubling in the underlying demands on psychologists appears: At the same time, they should reconstruct what has happened, should solve the problem, as well as to convict the perpetrator and save and protect future victims. The characters lead to conclusions on the basic tensions apparent in the often unconsidered picture of the task and the efficiency of the work of psychologists. The examination of several characters in television-series and films (from Dr. Eddie »Fitz« Fitzgerald and Dr. Hannibal Lecter to Dr. Helen Hudson) introduces the topic. A close-reading of the character Dr. Vera Bergman in the German Tatort Heimatfront (homefront) reviews the results and leads to more general conclusions. As a theoretical base, I choose narratological accounts, countertransference-analysis as defined in literary theory by Carl Pietzcker and Melvin Lerner's »Belief in a just World«. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]