Countertransference is the response to transference, feelings that can interfere with therapy.
The notion of countertransference is used in the field of psychiatry and psychology to refer to the affective reactions, whether unconscious or conscious, that the analyst experiences regarding certain feelings of his patient . To understand the concept, it is first important to focus on the idea of transfer .
Complementary to the transfer
According to Sigmund Freud , when a person interacts with another, they relive experiences associated with links from the past that remained in their unconscious . In other words, lived experiences are evoked and projected (transferred) towards another subject.
Within the framework of therapy, the patient usually projects contents of his unconscious onto the therapist, which produces the transference that Freud described. Simultaneously, the therapist projects his own feelings and ideas onto the patient based on his past experiences: this phenomenon is called countertransference .
Countertransference, in short, is a reaction or response of the psychoanalyst to the patient's transferences. Freud maintained that the therapist must be attentive so that the phenomenon does not interfere with the proper development of the therapy .
Therapist action
It is important to keep in mind that the psychoanalyst, beyond his profession, is a human being influenced, like everyone, by his unconscious. That is why it is essential that you know how to record the effects that countertransference causes in your relationship with the patient.
Take the case of free association , a method used for a subject to reveal, through language , traumatic events that are consciously inaccessible. If countertransference acts, it is likely that the analyst will reorganize the patient's free discourse and give it meaning according to his experiences and memories .
Since the psychoanalyst must also frequently psychoanalyze himself, he is expected to have sufficient knowledge of himself and his weaknesses to detect his own transferences when he meets his therapist, as well as the countertransferences he may experience when he is in the opposite role . . We cannot underestimate the importance of this skill, as it is essential for you to do effective work for your patients.
Given Freud's discoveries about transference, the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung proposed that all analysts should be analyzed. Freud agreed with such a requirement, which is maintained to the present to enhance the results of therapy. This is similar to what happens in any other relationship where the members occupy different hierarchies: whether they are parents and children, teachers and students, or employers and employees, it is not possible to guide someone if we do not have self-control, knowledge, and legitimate authority .
Feelings of countertransference
We must not forget that both transference and countertransference are based on feelings that both parties exhibit towards the other . Therefore, this gives rise to two statements: they cannot be avoided; Its nature can be both positive and negative. Although the patient and, above all, the psychoanalyst can fight against these feelings to prevent them from interfering in therapy, they cannot prevent them from appearing, since they are spontaneous.
The psychoanalyst must also analyze himself to do his job well.
On the other hand, with respect to its nature, there are two well-defined types. The positive ones are those of affection and friendship, which in principle the patient usually feels for his therapist. At this point, Freud distinguishes between "weak" and "hypertensive" transference. The first is that which does not prevent the development of the therapy; The second (which is also known as eroticized ), on the other hand, is a form of resistance that does block the progress of the analysis.
In the case of negative transference, the feelings the patient experiences are hostility and anger. Although at first it may seem to hinder the therapy, according to Lacan, a mild one of this type is preferable to a positive one to obtain the best results in the treatment.