Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Countertransference”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,099 records · Page 61Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

A dark talent: silence in analysis.

This paper is presented jointly by two analysts who have worked with patients whose silence stretched over years. They taxed our professional selves and our therapeutic repertoire of responses and techniques to the limit. Partly in response to these experiences, each analyst found herself needing to talk with another who could verify disturbing countertransference reactions from the standpoint of similar experience. The patients' (largely silent) attacks on analysis and their inability to use it conventionally constellated the need in us to talk, in an effort to relieve projected anxiety. Our conversations provided some containment of the destructive fantasies which we found developing in response to lack of verbal interaction with our patients. Unlike patients who project into an analyst in the unconscious hope of finding containment, silent patients project the need for containment, which they then disavow, leaving the analyst carrying the need, and feeling helpless, baffled and undermined in their therapeutic identity (Colman, private communication). In keeping with the theme of this conference, we found that our collaboration about what chronic analytic silence may mean helped to counteract its destructive effect on the analyst-patient relationship.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

Transference and dream in illness: waxing psyche, waning body.

In times of change, crisis, and illness, the excited points of an individual's personal history are reactivated within the transference and may also be noted by observing countertransference. When there are anomalies in the emotional and imaginal circle of the therapeutic relationship, there is occasion for repetition and/or a transformative opening. In some cases, there is simultaneous treatment of severe developmental fixations and compulsions, and issues of individuation. Images may emerge both from the personal field and from the collective and archetypal imagination. These may be expressions of interpersonal experience, intrapsychic dynamics, and physical as well as psychic state.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed2001

The Martin Buber-Carl Jung disputations: protecting the sacred in the battle for the boundaries of analytical psychology.

The Martin Buber-C.G. Jung disputations rather than the Freud-Jung split or Samuels's post-Jungian categories is considered the more significant paradigm for understanding the conflicts erupting within the Jungian community surrounding clinical practice and candidate training. Looking through the lens of the Freud-Jung split keeps the conflicts focused on the theoretical and technical differences concerning such concepts as object-relations, transference-countertransference, neutrality, clinical boundaries. The Buber-Jung disputations move the discussion into a different and more foundational arena, namely the vertical and horizontal psychological considerations of the experience of the Sacred and how that dimension is supported or thwarted in clinical practice and candidate training by the respective allegiances of the 'warriors' in the 'Holy Wars'. Experiencing the texture of the Buber-Jung disputations as well as grappling with their content suggests that a more dialogical approach to actual clinical material may be a more fruitful way to understand the work of analysis and the business of candidate training.

Famous Persons↗
PubMed2002

To speak in tongues: language, diversity and psychoanalysis.

After reviewing the different psychoanalytical approaches to language of authors such as Freud, Lacan, Kristeva, Jung and Nicolas Abraham, the author examines the problem of 'analytical listening', of the attitude that every analyst must assume towards the words of the analysand, words that must be heard not just in terms of their content but above all in terms of their sound. We live in a culture in which visual images predominate over acoustic images and all too often this cultural trend is repeated in analysis, but it is only when we can hear the 'poetry' of the analysand's discourse that we are able to provide an 'echo', an analytical response that can co-symbolize with, that can offer to the analysand a word or a metaphor that will unlock the symbol hidden behind his or her words. The author then turns to the problem of bilinguism and its role in analysis. In her view, bilingual analysts are facilitated in their task of listening and of translation, because bilinguism facilitates the rapidity and fluidity of the analyst's associations, and at the same time sharpens his or her awareness of how the sound of a word can subtly change its meaning. The paper ends with a clinical vignette which illustrates the role that language can play in hysteria. In hysteria the dissociation between body and psyche is accompanied by a dissociation inside language itself, between verbalization and vocalization. These dissociations can be linked to the traumatic impact of the encounter between the 'language of tenderness' and the 'language of passion', between the child's attachment needs and parental sexuality. In such cases the failure of communication can be resolved principally through the use the analyst makes of the countertransference.

Cultural Diversity↗
PubMed2002

Contemporary transference work and the analytic attitude: aims and methods--a clinical workshop.

There are various ways of working as an analyst, and there are various ways of utilizing the concept and the phenomena of transference-countertransference. I hope to draw an adequate picture of a way of working that is called 'working-in-the-transference' as distinct from ways of working that 'analyse transference'. The former has long been practiced by many Jungians as well as by many psychoanalysts. As method, it has aroused controversy in both groups, and is frequently both misunderstood and imitated. It can arouse strong anxiety. It can appear narrow and restrictive. It famously precludes a gamut of activities in which many analysts engage. Is working-in-the-transference old fashioned, or does it deserve to be increasingly appreciated? Can it offer support and validation whilst remaining true to its conception? It was hoped that these questions would be addressed in the clinical material brought to the workshop. The emphasis in the workshop was on active participation and it was hoped that those attending would bring their clinical concerns for discussion.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Nymphea: from psychic breakdown to the emergence of subjectivity.

In the first part of the paper the author presents an account of the analysis of a woman who is psychically extremely disturbed. This clinical presentation focuses on the unfolding of the transference process, and on the countertransference difficulties encountered during the course of the treatment which lasted more than ten years. In the second part of the paper the author proposes a theoretical approach to the breakdown experienced by the patient, and puts forward the hypothesis that there was insufficient differentiation between her internal objects and the archetypes, and that this prevented the development of symbolization. The author proposes the idea of a collapse between internal and external objects, which destroys the space necessary for representation and symbolization that normally arise between the two poles of the object. The account of this transference process between the analyst and the patient is thus seen as the account of the (re)construction of true internal objects, and of the resumption of a symbolic process to make possible the development of subjectivity.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Undoing trauma: contemporary neuroscience. A Jungian clinical perspective.

This paper uses insights from contemporary neuroscience and attachment theory to explore the profound dissociative defences associated with trauma. I discuss the effects of trauma on the emotional, intellectual and imaginative life of the individual and on the development of the self. Based on work with three patients with very different experiences of trauma, the paper offers clinical illustration of 'right brain to right brain' Jungian analysis. I argue that through repeated transference and countertransference experiences dissociative defences may be undone and change brought about.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Incest in Jung's work: the origins of the epistomophilic instinct.

In this paper the differences between Jung's and Freud's writings on incest are explored. Jung's view is that the purpose of the child's sexual interest, as expressed also in his incestuous longings, is not purely the satisfaction of the biological instinct but is more importantly seen to be the development of thinking. The importance of the incest taboo for analytic work and the dangers of enactment of the erotic transference-countertransference dynamics are highlighted.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2003

A contribution towards an analytic theory of violence.

This paper considers some of the clinical and theoretical problems contingent upon the imprecision and lack of clarity with which the word and concept 'violence' is used. A definition of violence is proposed, which separates the concept of violence from the related concept of aggression and sees the former as a particular form of the latter. This definition also proposes that violence must always have a psychological component aspect. It is contended that clarity is important clinically so that analysts can distinguish psychologically destructive from psychologically creative elements in their patients, in their own psychological functioning and in the countertransference. The phenomenon of violence is considered in the light of Fordham's model of development, in particular that violence may be viewed as a consequence of a failure to integrate normal, aggressive aspects of the personality. Violence is seen as uncontained, split-off aggression, subjected to psychological projection. It is proposed that a particular quality of the experience that is being projected is an uncontained sense of violation. The notion of 'mindless violence' is considered.

Affect↗
PubMed2005

Art, dreams and active imagination: a post-Jungian approach to transference and the image.

The term active imagination is sometimes applied rather uncritically to describe all forms of creative activity that take place in depth psychology. Whilst there are many forms of expression that evoke or are evoked by active imagination, they cannot automatically be classed as active imagination. In this article investigation of visualized mental imagery, dreams and art reveals three distinct forms of image-based psychological activity. Integrated and mediated within the transference and countertransference dynamic, it is proposed that the engagement in active imagination reflects and is influenced by the transference. Distinctions between sign and symbol, simple and big dreams as well as diagrammatic and embodied imagery clarify the differences. Examples from clinical practice demonstrate each mode in action within the analytic frame.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

An under-active or over-active internal world? An exploration of parallel dynamics within psyche and soma, and the difficulty of internal regulation, in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

This paper explores the dynamics brought into analytic work when there is a symmetric fusion between psyche and soma within the patient. It will consider how such a fusion may emerge from reverberations between physical constitution and a lack of maternal attunement, containment and reflective function. I will describe the work with a patient, Jane, who was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) during the course of her analysis. The dynamic of her physical symptoms within the analytic work, and the impact of her internal affects and internal 'objects' within the transference and countertransference, indicated a difficulty in finding an homeostatic balance resulting in overactivity and underactivity at both somatic and psychological levels. Using the clinical work with Jane this paper will also examine the interrelationship between mother-infant attachment, an inadequate internalized maternal reflective function, affect dysregulation, unconscious fusion, the lack of psyche-soma differentiation and the impact of the latter in relation to internal regulation systems, or lack of, in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). I will draw on similar work carried out by Holland (1997), Simpson (1997) and Simpson et al. (1997). The paper will also employ the concept of the reflective function (Fonagy 2001; Knox 2003), and consider Matte-Blanco's (1999) concepts of generalization and unconscious symmetry in relation to the patient's internal world. I go on to consider how analysis provides a point outside the 'fusion' that can enable the 'deadlock' to be broken.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Through the Iron Curtain: analytical space in post-Soviet Russia.

This paper discusses the experience of working as an analyst in post-totalitarian Russia in order to explore some of the general theoretical and clinical issues involved in working in a different cultural and linguistic context, and the particular problems encountered in the Russian cultural context. It describes how the Soviet regime worked actively to create a new totally collective mentality through the destruction of individual differences and the collectivization of private space, and the effects this produced in the individual and collective psyche. It examines the difficulties encountered when working with Russian analysands in creating and maintaining the setting, in preserving boundaries, in creating analytical space, and in working with certain particular transference-countertransference dynamics. It focuses on the contrast between my own Western experience of space and the spatial experience of the analysands, and describes the process of helping them use analytical space to interiorize and create a new experience of psychic space. The paper uses dreams to illustrate some of these dynamics, and the particular psychic problems associated with the traumas created by totalitarian regimes.

Culture↗
PubMed1996

An equal struggle (psychodynamic assessment following repeated episodes of deliberate self harm).

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a complex method of enabling a person to engage with life difficulties. This narrative paper investigates the value of psychodynamic psychotherapy within the framework of the 'Health of the Nation' document (Department of Health 1992). The paper explores an encounter with a young gay man who was admitted to the medical unit following an episode of deliberate self harm, in response to profound and thematic relationship difficulties. The writer (a liaison mental health nurse, working in a general hospital setting) examines the complexities of the transference, countertransference relationship. A case is made for the facilitation of choice as a primary goal of therapy. It is suggested that the inauguration of transference resolution is determined through an equitable relationship, in which therapist and client are engaged equally in the struggle toward understanding. The paper concludes with the suggestion that psychotherapy is an appropriate and effective method for dealing with relational conflict. However, personal, temporal and social resources may not provide the client with what is, in Kleinian terms, a necessary holding environment. The assessment process nevertheless can provide important learning and enable significant changes to be made in supportive networks.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Camping marathon group psychotherapy for adolescents.

The effects of adolescent group psychotherapy were studied on 253 adolescent patients and 98 parents who participated in a camping marathon group psychotherapy (MGT) conducted every summer from 1972 to 1982 by the staff of the psychiatry division of Fukuoka University Hospital. Among the factors examined were the relations of the present therapy with age, individual therapy, types of disorders, the nature of conflicts of the patients, the attitudes of the patients and their parents toward the therapy and countertransference of the therapists. The objects and adjustment patterns of patients in the group therapy are considered to be dependent on these and other interrelated factors. Some of the patients adjusted to their psychological trauma resulting from their past human relations through re-experiencing identity crisis in the group as a transitional object. They did not maintain their enhanced self-esteem through the group experience, but apparently utilized the transitional object they identified with as a model in overcoming their crises when they returned to the real life situation and confronted their actual problems. The actual effect of the camping MGT, therefore, may be evaluated when the nature of the disorders and therapeutic goals of individual patients, revealed during the present therapy, are further dealt with in the family, individual and regular group therapy following the camping MGT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Clinical evaluation of suicide risk.

Suicide risk assessment may well be the most complex clinical task that mental health professionals face. Tests have shown to be of little use. To confront this complexity, assessment and prediction are best seen as interwoven with understanding suicide, a multi-dimensional malaise. With the essential concepts of lethality and perturbation, a clinical theory of suicide is presented. Intrapsychic aspects (i.e., unbearable psychological pain, cognitive constriction, indirect expressions, inability to adjust, and ego) as well as interpersonal aspects (i.e., interpersonal relations, rejection-aggression, identification-egression), are outlined to aid in assessment. Transference and countertransference issues in assessment are noted. A case illustration to aid in clinical insight is provided. It is concluded that all assessment and prediction of suicide risk ultimately depends on the skill of the clinician.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Working with psychotic patients.

I have discussed a model of the psyche comprising two different modes of thinking, one non-psychotic and the other psychotic. I have related these modes of thinking to our modern myth of Jekyll and Hyde, the study of which could in my opinion give us some insight into their nature. In my view a non-psychotic state of mind belongs to a person who has a history, with particular parents, a particular development, particular conflicts, and operates in the depressive position. A psychotic state of mind belongs to a person who lives in a still and timeless present, with no origin, no development and no conflict, and operates in the paranoid-schizoid position. On the basis of this model I have subsequently described the life history of a psychotic patient and an analytic session in detail, showing how psychotic and non-psychotic states alternate and interact with each other within the same individual and between patient and therapist. The use of my countertransference, moving from a concrete to a symbolic position, has enabled me to make an interpretation. The result of this interpretation has been double, leading to a negative therapeutic reaction. An upsurge of psychotic fury was followed by increased patient/therapist communication, with a small movement from the paranoid-schizoid to the depressive position.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The psychosomatic symptom and the self: a sirens' song.

This paper examines the symbolic nature of the psychosomatic symptom. It is suggested that the psychosomatic symptom is an informationally rich symbolic derivative of the Self that serves to focus attention on developmental disturbances in the archetypal processes of constructing body image and interpreting dysphoric somatic sensations. Clinical examples are offered to illustrate the changing nature of the psychomatic symptom in society. The therapeutic importance of monitoring affectual transactions in the transference-countertransference field is stressed.

Ego↗
PubMed1980

Modalities of psychotherapy with the elderly.

Emphasized is the view that geriatric psychotherapy can be effectively administered only with knowledge of the biology, psychology, and sociology of old age. The concepts of transference, countertransference, interpretation, conflict and defense mechanisms are crucial for understanding the various treatment modalities. Five intervention patterns are offered for the therapeutic approaches, i.e., interpretation, suggestion, reinforcement, confrontation, and clarification. The different modalities of geriatric psychotherapy may be viewed as variations of different clusters of these interventions, e.g., psychoanalysis makes most use of interpretation whereas group therapy makes most use of confrontation and clarification. For the psychologic treatment of disorders in late life, there are five basic modalities and one adjunct. The basic psychotherapies are classified as psychoanalytic, supportive, group, family, and behavioral; the adjunct is psychopharmacologic treatment, which is not a substitute for effective psychotherapy. Much semantic confusion has centered around this adjunctive treatment. Conceptual confusions about the meaning of the word "cure" are discussed.

Aged↗