transference

…pervasive phenomenon, which he called transference (or in the case of the analyst’s desire for the patient, counter-transference). Produced by the projection of feelings, transference, he reasoned, is the reenactment of childhood urges cathected (invested) on a new object. As such, it is the essential tool in the analytic cure,…

…and patient can observe these transference reactions, as Freud termed them, the exploration of their inappropriateness is deemed a powerful means of resolving them.

…handling of the patient’s “transference” (the patient’s feelings toward the analyst that reflect previously experienced feelings toward parents and other important figures in the patient’s early life). Freud’s work, though complex and controversial in many of its aspects, laid the basis for modern psychotherapy in its use of free…

To facilitate the development of transference, the analyst endeavors to maintain a neutral stance toward the patient, becoming an effective “blank screen” onto which the patient can project inner feelings. The analyst’s handling of the transference situation is of vital importance in psychoanalysis—or, indeed, in any form of dynamic psychotherapy.…