Can transference happen outside of therapy?
Transference is a common occurrence among humans, and it may often occur in therapy, but it does not necessarily imply a mental health condition. Transference can also occur in various situations outside of therapy and may form the basis for certain relationship patterns in everyday life.
What is transference and countertransference in therapy?
Countertransference, which occurs when a therapist transfers emotions to a person in therapy, is often a reaction to transference, a phenomenon in which the person in treatment redirects feelings for others onto the therapist.
Can countertransference be positive?
Positive countertransference might be characterized by intense liking/loving of the patient, desire to be with the patient, and the idealization of the patient’s efforts in psychotherapy. Erotic countertransference is a common manifestation, as is an intense maternal countertransference.
What is the difference between countertransference and transference?
Transference is subconsciously associating a person in the present with a past relationship. For example, you meet a new client who reminds you of a former lover. Countertransference is responding to them with all the thoughts and feelings attached to that past relationship.
How do you get rid of transference?
What’s the treatment for transference? In cases when the therapist uses transference as part of the therapy process, continuing therapy will help “treat” the transference. The therapist can work with you to end the redirection of emotions and feelings. You’ll work to properly attribute those emotions.
What are countertransference reactions?
n. the therapist’s unconscious (and often conscious) reactions to the patient and to the patient’s transference. These thoughts and feelings are based on the therapist’s own psychological needs and conflicts and may be unexpressed or revealed through conscious responses to patient behavior.
What are signs of transference?
One tell-tale sign of transference is when your feelings or reactions seem bigger than they should be. You don’t just feel frustrated, you feel enraged. You don’t just feel hurt, you feel deeply wounded in a way that confirms your most painful beliefs.
What does countertransference feel like?
The therapist feels bored, irked, paralyzed, or contemptuous in the presence of a particular patient. It is the therapist’s job to recognize these feelings and deal with them. Occasionally a therapist must refer the patient to a colleague when the original therapist’s countertransference is unmanageable.
How often do you meet with your therapist for transference therapy?
That intensity is fostered by the fact patient and therapist meet three or more times per week. When patient and therapist discuss the transference treatment is further intensified. The therapist must be fully aware of the power of the patients transference feelings and never allow him or herself to be seduced and act upon those feelings.
What is negative transference in therapy?
Sometimes a person may develop a “negative transference” to the therapist, meaning that the therapist has lost the trust of his patient. The angry feelings are so intense that, in most circumstances, the patient leaves the treatment.
How can countertransference be used in experienced therapists?
Further, the assistance of and discussion with supervisors and colleagues is useful in regard to countertransference even in experienced therapists. Countertransference can be used as an open window into the interpersonal relations of the patient.
What are the signs of transference in a therapeutic relationship?
Results: Transference. The therapist should pay attention to negative or positive reactions towards him/ her but should not deliberately provoke or ignore them. He/she should be vigilant for signs of strong negative emotions, such as a disappointment, anger, and frustration experienced in the therapeutic relationship by the patient.