Transference and Countertransference in Non-analytic Therapy

Book excerpt: This work explores the psychoanalytic constructs of transference and countertransference and explains how structures and activities in the human brain account for them. It identifies major transferential and countertransferential themes and ways in which displaced material is most likely to manifest. Written in non-analytic language for non-analysts, this work outlines a five-step approach to allow displaced material to reveal its basic meaning. It provides clinicians with several management strategies, including formulating and using interpretations in a way that does not threaten clients. The focus is on transference and countertransference as they relate to major phases of non-analytic therapy. Through this approach, the book useful provides templates for identifying transference and countertransference phenomena and guidelines for interpreting them to clients. By summarizing key research findings, it will allow readers from various theoretical orientations to make their own judgments about how to deal with the potentially harmful and potentially beneficial phenomena of transference and countertransference.