Abstract
‘Counter-transference’: How raw and unsophisticated is our psychoanalytic vocabulary. We use this quasi-scientific term to order and explain a variety of unconscious processes which lack any consistency or linearity. We employ the prefix ‘counter’ to signify a re-action to our patient’s transference as if we are always capable of identifying our unconscious reactions or we could invent and follow a logical time sequence during which the patient’s transference precedes and produces a counter-transference in us which we could then gradually modify and give back to the patient through the medium of interpretation. This is all too ‘orderly’. There is nothing here about the messiness of the interaction, the moment-to-moment stops and starts, the contemporaneous meeting and losing the other, the unpredictable twists and turns, ups and downs, unexpected curveballs. We need the term ‘counter-transference’ to create a false sense of security, to protect us against the inescapable uncertainty of the process. It has the same function as that of a safety bar on a rollercoaster ride: it makes us feel secure but deep down we know that if something goes wrong, no safety device can save us.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Introduction to Countertransference In Therapeutic Practice |
| Subtitle of host publication | A Myriad of Mirrors |
| Editors | Paola Valerio |
| Place of Publication | Abingdon |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Pages | 221-229 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781315462097 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781138690110, 9781138690103 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Nov 2017 |