The Psychoanalytic Quarterly 1985/2. [antikvár]

COUNTERTRANSFERENCE AS COMPROMISE FORMATION BY CHARLES BRENNER, M.D. Countertransference is a ubiquitous phenomenon, a set of compromise formations comprising the analyst's transference to the patient(s). Somé consequences of this fact are discussed, including the factors responsible for those instances when countertransference impedes analysis. Freud discussed the concept of countertransference at somé length in 1915 in his paper on transference love. What he meant by it was, if an analyst responds to a patient's transference love by falling in love with her, that is countertransference. Current interest in the concept dates back less far, however- somé thirty years, perhaps. The most frequently quoted seminal article on countertransference is the one by A. Reich, which appeared in 1951. Her definition is considerably broader than Freud's originál one. It is that countertransference "comprises the effects of the analyst's own unconscious needs and conflicts on his understanding or technique" (p. 26). This definition is still a good one, but only if it is taken out of the context of the article in which it appeared. From the context it is obvious that Reich meant only the unfavorable, harmful, deleterious effects This paper and the papers by Drs. Arlow and Silverman which follow were contributions to a Panel on Countertransference held at Princeton, New Jersey, on June 9, 1984, as part of a meeting of the Régiónál Council of Psychoanalytic Societíes of Greater New York: The Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine, The Long Island Psychoanalytic Society, The New Jersey Psychoanalytic Society, The New York Psychoanalytic Society, The Psychoanalytic Association of New York, and The Westchester Psychoanalytic Society.