Transference and Countertransference and the Therapeutic Relationship

Transference and Countertransference
Name
 College
October 28th, 2022
Transference and Countertransference
Transference is a therapeutic condition in which a client unknowingly directs their feelings of a person from their past towards a therapist. According to Corey et al ( 2022), transference is the intense, unconscious, and deep emotions that develop in therapeutic relationships between a patient and a therapist. They are normally perceived to be unreal. Patients tend to redirect their feelings of anger, love, hostility, or adoration toward the therapist. In addition, transference is a complex and multilayered situation in which a patient's brain tries to understand and comprehend the present while referring to the past. As a part of therapy sessions, sometimes therapists actively encourage the behavior to understand the subconscious and mental processes of the patient. On the other hand, countertransference is the therapist's response to the projection of the client's transferences in a therapy session. Thus, countertransference can be defined as a situation in which a therapist redirects their emotions toward clients, either conscious or unconscious depending on the client's projection.
Further, transference is a result of behavioral patterns formed in a patient's childhood relationship. Thus, a therapist can gain insight by observing and identifying recurring patterns in a patient through understanding their behavior, thought patterns, and origin. For instance, through observation, a therapist might identify patterns in the intimate relationships of a patient and why they struggle to form a strong bond with their partners. It could be from rejection and abandonment when they were children. The patient might be afraid of attachments as the subconscious did not heal. Thus, transference determines how the client will respond to therapy by bringing up early memories of their past relationship.
There are three primary categories of transference. First, positive transference. Positive transference is when a patient remembers a happy and positive aspect of their past life and projects those feelings toward a therapist. It can be a moment their parents were proud of them, and they did well in their academics or other achievements in their life. This can help the client to view a therapist as emphatic, wise, or caring, which is essential in psychotherapeutics. Second, negative transference is when clients remember negative aspects of their life. The client can be hostile to the therapist in which they might sometimes be encouraged to understand the depth of these emotions. Thirdly, sexualized transference is when a client is attracted to a therapist sexually, intimately, romantically, or in reverence. Transference is essential as it assists therapists in understanding the root cause of emotions projected and the best therapy to be recommended. 
Additionally, a patient can emotionally associate with a therapist in different forms:
1 Paternal transference is when a client associates with a therapist as a father figure who is authoritative, loving, wise, and protective. This evokes emotions of adoration and admiration or agitation, depending on the nature of their relationships. For instance, in the case ...