A carefully selected volume tracing the development of countertransference—the emotional reaction of an analyst to their subject In Essential Papers on Countertransference, Benjamin Wolstein has carefully gathered the classic essays which trace the development of countertransference as a psychoanalytic concept and explore the various ways in which it has been defined and used by various psychoanalytic schools. The volume includes selections from the work of Sigmund Freud, D. W. Winnicott, Clara Thompson, Harold F. Searles, and Heinrich Racker, among others. Wolstein's introduction offers a provocative perspective on the concept of countertransference and places in context the many controversies surrounding its use by analysts. Contributors: Mabel Blake Cohen, Ralph M. Crowley, Lawrence Epstein, Arthur H. Feiner, Sandor Ferenczi, Sigmund Freud, Merton M. Gill, Douglas W. Orr, Heinrich Racker, Otto Rank, Theodor Reik, Janet MacKenzie Rioch, Harold F. Searles, Leo Stone, Edward S. Tauber, Clara Thompson, Lucia E. Tower, and D. W. Winnicott.

A carefully selected volume tracing the development of countertransference—the emotional reaction of an analyst to their subject In Essential Papers on Countertransference, Benjamin Wolstein has carefully gathered the classic essays which trace the development of countertransference as a psychoanalytic concept and explore the various ways in which it has been defined and used by various psychoanalytic schools. The volume includes selections from the work of Sigmund Freud, D. W. Winnicott, Clara Thompson, Harold F. Searles, and Heinrich Racker, among others. Wolstein's introduction offers a provocative perspective on the concept of countertransference and places in context the many controversies surrounding its use by analysts. Contributors: Mabel Blake Cohen, Ralph M. Crowley, Lawrence Epstein, Arthur H. Feiner, Sandor Ferenczi, Sigmund Freud, Merton M. Gill, Douglas W. Orr, Heinrich Racker, Otto Rank, Theodor Reik, Janet MacKenzie Rioch, Harold F. Searles, Leo Stone, Edward S. Tauber, Clara Thompson, Lucia E. Tower, and D. W. Winnicott.

A collection of central papers on transference—the psychoanalytic phenomen of adult repetition of childhood experiences Among Freud's discoveries, none has proved more theoretically valid or clinically productive than his demonstration that humans regularly and inevitably repeat with the analyst patterns of relationship, fantasy, and conflict experienced in their childhood. Transference phenomenon and its analysis in therapy is the cornerstone for much psychoanalytic work. It's crucial importance has been and continues to be a matter of debate among psychoanalysts. Essential Papers on Transference presents the central papers on the subject of transference from Freud's time to our own. Although many reflect viewpoints within the psychoanalytic mainstream, efforts have been made to be as inclusive as possible; thus neo-Freudian, Kohutian, and Lacanian statements are represented. The book underscores the fact that the meaning, the therapeutic use, and even the theoretical explanation of transference and transference phenomena have undergone significant changes over the years.

Winner of the 2009 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic Scholarship! Irwin Hirsch, author of Coasting in the Countertransference, asserts that countertransference experience always has the potential to be used productively to benefit patients. However, he also observes that it is not unusual for analysts to 'coast' in their countertransferences, and to not use this experience to help treatment progress toward reaching patients' and analysts' stated analytic goals. He believes that it is quite common that analysts who have some conscious awareness of a problematic aspect of countertransference participation, or of a mutual enactment, nevertheless do nothing to change that participation and to use their awareness to move the therapy forward. Instead, analysts may prefer to maintain what has developed into perhaps a mutually comfortable equilibrium in the treatment, possibly rationalizing that the patient is not yet ready to deal with any potential disruption that a more active use of countertransference might precipitate. This 'coasting' is emblematic of what Hirsch believes to be an ever present (and rarely addressed) conflict between analysts’ self-interest and pursuit of comfortable equilibrium, and what may be ideal for patients’ achievement of analytic aims. The acknowledgment of the power of analysts’ self-interest further highlights the contemporary view of a truly two-person psychology conception of psychoanalytic praxis. Analysts’ embrace of their selfish pursuit of comfortable equilibrium reflects both an acknowledgment of the analyst as a flawed other, and a potential willingness to abandon elements of self-interest for the greater good of the therapeutic project.

The constant and polymorphous development of the field of psychoanalysis since its inception has led to the evolution of a wide variety of psychoanalytic ‘schools’. In seeking to find common ground between them, Alberto Stefana examines the history of countertransference, a concept which has developed from its origins as an apparent obstacle, to become an essential tool for analysis, and which has undergone profound changes in definition and in clinical use. In History of Countertransference, Stefana follows the development of this concept over time, exploring a very precise trend which begins with the original notion put forward by Sigmund Freud and leads to the ideas of Melanie Klein and the British object relations school. The book explores the studies of specific psychoanalytic theorists and endeavours to bring to light how the input from each one may have been influenced by previous theories, by the personal history of the analyst, and by their historical-cultural context. By shedding light on how different psychoanalytic groups work with countertransference, Stefana helps the reader to understand the divergences that exist between them. This unique study of a key psychoanalytical concept will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and academics and students of psychoanalytic studies and the history of psychology.

Countertransference was believed at one time to consist of the subjective reactions of the therapist whose own unresolved conflicts had been reactivated by the patient's transference. More recently, however, it has been recast to include the totality of the therapist's attitudes, fantasies, and emotional reactions to the patient. While this important topic has received increased attention in the mental health literature in recent years, little attention has been paid to countertransference encountered in child and adolescent psychotherapy. This book focuses on countertransference in the psychotherapy of children and adolescents in detail. It offers the child and adolescent therapist an invaluable opportunity to explore countertransference in substantial depth and in a variety of clinical encounters across the wide spectrum of child and adolescent psychopathology. Perhaps most importantly, it normalizes the topic of transference in the psycho-therapy of children and adolescents and, in so doing, highlights the clinician's subjective experience as central to the process of psychotherapy.

Countertransference responses within the therapist pose a formidable challenge for the clinician, who must carefully examine reactions that may be distressing. These potentially disrupting responses, however, are a valuable source of understanding that can deepen the therapeutic process. This text presents numerous manifestations of countertransference interactions and explores how they can influence the treatment process, giving evolving guidelines that correlate with case examples reflecting effective clinical treatment.