TRANSFERENCE (PSYCHOANALYSIS): THE ROLE IN THERAPY - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

The transference is a process that occurs during a therapy in which psychoanalysis is used. It consists of the projection of feelings that the client has towards another person on her therapist. It occurs especially when talking about someone important in the patient's childhood.

The transference can involve all kinds of emotions, the most classic of which are love and desire. But, on the other hand, a client can transfer emotions such as anger, dependency, or mistrust. This is a normal part of the psychoanalytic process.

In general, transference is typical of a therapy setting. However, in our day to day we can also experience it, when we examine what happens to us in the present based on what we have experienced in the past that is similar.

On the other hand, three types of transference can occur: positive (when we harbor pleasant memories or beliefs about a similar situation), negative (when they are unpleasant), or sexualized.

Definition of transfer

In a therapeutic process in which psychoanalysis is used, the patient is not satisfied with seeing his psychologist as a counselor or expert.

On the contrary, one of the most common processes during this type of therapy is to see the psychologist as the reincarnation of a person from the client's past.

In this way, all kinds of feelings and emotions that the patient felt towards someone important from his childhood are projected onto the psychoanalyst.

This brings both great dangers to therapy as well as very useful opportunities to advance the client's healing process.

In general, because psychoanalysis focuses on talking about the person's childhood and relationships with parents during this time, the feelings that the client felt towards one of their caregivers will be projected through the transference.

Generally, the opposite sex to his own, which according to Freud was the one that most influenced development in most cases.

The role of transference in therapy

For Freud, the creator of psychoanalytic therapy, transference can be both a fantastic tool for advancing the cure of psychological problems and a very serious danger.

Next we will see what happens when the transference provokes positive emotions towards the therapist, and when the feelings produced are negative.

Finally, we will also study sexualized transference, which due to its special importance in psychoanalysis deserves to be mentioned separately.

Positive transfer

In the case of being positive, the transference makes the patient want to please his therapist in everything, since he will feel very attached to him.

Therefore, it will be easier for you to collaborate in what he asks you. Thus, the recovery of the person will occur more quickly.

On the other hand, since the psychologist normally takes on the role of father or mother when the transference occurs, he will be able to more easily change certain limiting beliefs and thoughts that the person acquired during childhood.

Finally, by acting as if he were in front of one of his parents, the psychologist can extract a lot of information about his relationship with them.

This is fundamental to the therapeutic process when using psychoanalysis, since it is believed that this relationship is what primarily shapes the personality of each one of us.

However, not all is good in positive transfer. If the feelings produced are very intense, the patient may feel too attached to his psychologist and avoid improving in order to continue seeing him.

In addition, he will believe that he needs him to be well, so he will trust himself less and his self-esteem will deteriorate.

Negative transfer

Sometimes the feelings harbored towards parents are not the most positive in the world. Sometimes the person feels anger, rage, abandonment or mistrust towards them.

If these emotions are transferred to the psychologist, therapy will suddenly be fraught with complications, although some opportunities may also appear.

The main problem that occurs with negative transference is that the relationship between patient and therapist will become cloudy.

Since a good connection between the two is essential in psychoanalysis, the results of the process will worsen. Sometimes it may even be necessary to stop therapy.

Another problem that can occur is that, even if the patient decides to continue with the psychoanalysis process, he unconsciously harbors resentment towards his therapist. In these cases, he will ignore their advice or guidelines, and will put obstacles in your recovery.

As you can see, negative transference is often a major impediment to therapy. However, an experienced psychoanalyst could use it to their advantage.

By projecting the negative emotions felt to the parents, the therapist could use it to work on them and release some of the blocks produced by childhood experiences.

Sexualized transfer

In the most extreme cases of transference, the feelings harbored by the therapist may be romantic or sexual in nature.

This is considered very dangerous, since the patient is in a vulnerable situation in which the psychologist could take advantage of his relationship with him.

For this reason, psychoanalysts must be very aware of the possibility of this occurring. On the other hand, they have to adhere to the deontological code of their profession, which expressly prohibits them from having relationships of any kind with their patients during the time the therapy is taking place.

However, the sexualized transference can also be quite useful for the therapist who knows how to use it. For Freud, relationships with one's parents during childhood also have a certain romantic or sexual component.

Therefore, working on these powerful feelings during therapy can help resolve psychological problems more quickly.

conclusion

As can be seen, the transference during the psychoanalytic process is neither good nor bad in itself. Depending on how it is used and what effects it produces, it can become a great ally of the therapist, or a serious problem.

References

1. "What you should know about transference" in: VeryWell Mind. Retrieved on: June 12, 2018 from VeryWell Mind: verywellmind.com.
2. "Transference" in: Freud File. Retrieved on: June 12, 2018 from Freud File: freudfile.org.
3. "A client's guide to transference" in: Psychology Today. Retrieved on: June 12, 2018 from Psychology Today: psychologytoday.com.
4. "Transference" in: Good Therapy. Retrieved on: June 12, 2018 from Good Therapy: goodtherapy.org.
5. "Transference" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: June 12, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.