The Uses of Countertransference


Book Description

Few terms in the psychoanalytic lexicon have proved more elusive or generated more controversy than countertransference. This volume provides a practical account of how to understand and work with this psychodynamic phenomenon. The definition and uses of the term are included here.







Coasting in the Countertransference


Book Description

Winner of the 2009 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic Scholarship! Irwin Hirsch, author of Coasting in the Countertransference, asserts that countertransference experience always has the potential to be used productively to benefit patients. However, he also observes that it is not unusual for analysts to 'coast' in their countertransferences, and to not use this experience to help treatment progress toward reaching patients' and analysts' stated analytic goals. He believes that it is quite common that analysts who have some conscious awareness of a problematic aspect of countertransference participation, or of a mutual enactment, nevertheless do nothing to change that participation and to use their awareness to move the therapy forward. Instead, analysts may prefer to maintain what has developed into perhaps a mutually comfortable equilibrium in the treatment, possibly rationalizing that the patient is not yet ready to deal with any potential disruption that a more active use of countertransference might precipitate. This 'coasting' is emblematic of what Hirsch believes to be an ever present (and rarely addressed) conflict between analysts’ self-interest and pursuit of comfortable equilibrium, and what may be ideal for patients’ achievement of analytic aims. The acknowledgment of the power of analysts’ self-interest further highlights the contemporary view of a truly two-person psychology conception of psychoanalytic praxis. Analysts’ embrace of their selfish pursuit of comfortable equilibrium reflects both an acknowledgment of the analyst as a flawed other, and a potential willingness to abandon elements of self-interest for the greater good of the therapeutic project.




Countertransference


Book Description

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History of Countertransference


Book Description

The constant and polymorphous development of the field of psychoanalysis since its inception has led to the evolution of a wide variety of psychoanalytic ‘schools’. In seeking to find common ground between them, Alberto Stefana examines the history of countertransference, a concept which has developed from its origins as an apparent obstacle, to become an essential tool for analysis, and which has undergone profound changes in definition and in clinical use. In History of Countertransference, Stefana follows the development of this concept over time, exploring a very precise trend which begins with the original notion put forward by Sigmund Freud and leads to the ideas of Melanie Klein and the British object relations school. The book explores the studies of specific psychoanalytic theorists and endeavours to bring to light how the input from each one may have been influenced by previous theories, by the personal history of the analyst, and by their historical-cultural context. By shedding light on how different psychoanalytic groups work with countertransference, Stefana helps the reader to understand the divergences that exist between them. This unique study of a key psychoanalytical concept will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and academics and students of psychoanalytic studies and the history of psychology.




A Disturbance in the Field


Book Description

"This outstanding volume of essays presents an extraordinary synthesis of classical and contemporary concepts and methods of psychoanalysis, with immediate relevance to clinical practice. The author's encyclopedic knowledge of the psychoanalytic literature brings the reader into the exciting center of current clinical psychoanalysis. The extensive clinical illustrations, with detailed evaluation of his participation in the analytic work and particular attention to its imperfections, form the heart of this book. These clinical discussions, more than anything else, highlight the power of the modern focus on countertransference and the analyst's contributions to the psychoanalytic dialogue."ùAnton O. Kris, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School --Book Jacket




Transference and Countertransference


Book Description

This book presents a classic examination of transference phenomena and focuses on the development of psychoanalytic technique and theory. It addresses a perceived gap between psychoanalytic knowledge and its capacity to effect psychological transformation in a patient.




Therapists Use of Self in Family Therapy


Book Description

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Essential Papers on Countertransference


Book Description

A carefully selected volume tracing the development of countertransference—the emotional reaction of an analyst to their subject In Essential Papers on Countertransference, Benjamin Wolstein has carefully gathered the classic essays which trace the development of countertransference as a psychoanalytic concept and explore the various ways in which it has been defined and used by various psychoanalytic schools. The volume includes selections from the work of Sigmund Freud, D. W. Winnicott, Clara Thompson, Harold F. Searles, and Heinrich Racker, among others. Wolstein's introduction offers a provocative perspective on the concept of countertransference and places in context the many controversies surrounding its use by analysts. Contributors: Mabel Blake Cohen, Ralph M. Crowley, Lawrence Epstein, Arthur H. Feiner, Sandor Ferenczi, Sigmund Freud, Merton M. Gill, Douglas W. Orr, Heinrich Racker, Otto Rank, Theodor Reik, Janet MacKenzie Rioch, Harold F. Searles, Leo Stone, Edward S. Tauber, Clara Thompson, Lucia E. Tower, and D. W. Winnicott.




Gender, Countertransference, and the Erotic Transference


Book Description

How do gender and sexual difference influence the erotic transference? Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transferenceoffers new insights into working with complex transference and countertransference phenomena. Including views from a wide spectrum of theoretical backgrounds, it makes a unique contribution to discourse on the themes of gender, sexuality and the erotic transference. The contributors are highly experienced clinicians with international reputations as theorists in the fields of analytical psychology, psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Illustrated with closely observed clinical examples and detailed theoretical discussion, innovations in technique are introduced on themes including developmental mourning, female perversion, the meaning and purpose of the erotic transference, the dying patient, lesbian homoerotic transference and supervision of the erotic transference. Countertransference is vividly explored in chapters on sexual difference, the therapist's body and the challenging topic of perversion in the analyst. The book is divided into four sections: gender and the erotic transference the erotic transference and the symbolic function women working with women historical perspectives on women working with men. Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transferenceextends existing theory, highlighting the symbolic nature of the transference/countertransference dynamic. It will be compelling reading for experienced clinicians, students and trainees in the fields of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, as well as counselling, the arts therapies and social work. ored in chapters on sexual difference, the therapist's body and the challenging topic of perversion in the analyst. The book is divided into four sections: gender and the erotic transference the erotic transference and the symbolic function women working with women historical perspectives on women working with men. Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transferenceextends existing theory, highlighting the symbolic nature of the transference/countertransference dynamic. It will be compelling reading for experienced clinicians, students and trainees in the fields of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, as well as counselling, the arts therapies and social work.




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