Recognizing and Dealing with Transference

Publisher Summary The relationship between the patient and the therapist is often seen as having three components—the transference, the real relationship, and the working alliance. The distinction among these components is important and is illustrative of the change that has occurred in the concept of transference. The transference can be better thought of as an enactment, a repetition with the therapist of a pattern of behavior. The detection and assessment of transference is not easy because it can never be observed directly, but rather, is always a matter of inference from a derivative. Nonetheless, there are some clear indicators of the presence of transference and it is important to attend to these indicators. The key in recognizing transference is to understand that transference is always inappropriate. Even when transference is considered mutually constructed, the contribution of the patient will seem disproportionate in the case of a transferential response.