Negative transference is the

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

term for the

transference Transference () is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which repetitions of old feelings, attitudes, desires, or fantasies that someone displaces are subconsciously projected onto a here-and-now person. Traditionally, it had solely co ...

of negative and hostile feelings, rather than positive ones, onto a therapist (or other emotional object).

Freud's preference

In his pioneering studies of transference phenomena,

Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

noted the existence of both positive and negative transferences, while expressing a preference for the former, which he initially saw as a prerequisite for analytic work. Freud considered that "The hostile feelings make their appearance as a rule later than the affectionate ones and behind them"; and more frequently in same-sex than in mixed-sex analytic pairings.

Otto Fenichel Otto Fenichel (; 2 December 1897, Vienna – 22 January 1946, Los Angeles) was an Austrian psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". He was born into a prominent family of Jewish lawyers. Education and psychoanalytic affiliations Otto ...

pointed out that whereas neurotic aggravations can follow the emergence of a negative transference, so too (paradoxically) can improvements: the patient gets better to spite the therapist for emphasising the patient's problems.

Later formulations

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...

in her disputes with

Anna Freud Anna Freud CBE ( ; ; 3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father a ...

laid much greater emphasis than her opponent on the constructive role to be played by interpreting the negative transference.

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

followed her theoretical lead in seeing "the

projection Projection or projections may refer to: Physics * Projection (physics), the action/process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface to another in a different direction * The display of images by a projector Optics, graphics, and carto ...

of what Melanie Klein calls ''bad internal objects''" as key to "the negative transference that is the initial knot of the analytic drama" - though he himself would face criticism for glossing over the negative transference in training analyses, to keep his analysands in dependence. W. R. D. Fairbairn was also more interested in the negative than the positive transference, which he saw as a key to the

repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

and exposure of unconscious attachments to internalised bad objects. In his wake, object relations theorists have tended to stress the positive results that can emerge from working with the negative transference.

Technical blocks

* Fritz Wittels considered the brevity of

Wilhelm Stekel Wilhelm Stekel (; 18 March 1868 – 25 June 1940) was an Austrian physician and psychologist, who became one of Sigmund Freud's earliest followers, and was once described as "Freud's most distinguished pupil". According to Ernest Jones, "Stekel ...

's analyses to be due to his

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

being unable to endure the emergence of the negative transference. * Rollo May saw the flaw in

person-centered therapy Person-centered therapy (PCT), also known as person-centered psychotherapy, person-centered counseling, client-centered therapy and Rogerian psychotherapy, is a humanistic approach psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers and collea ...

as a pervasive reluctance to deal with the negative transference.

Literary analogues

Describing the process of becoming the focus of a paranoid's hostility, C. P. Snow wrote: "No one likes being hated: most of us are afraid of it: it jars to the bone when we meet hatred face to face."C. P. Snow, ''Corridors of Power'' (1975) p. 131

References

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External links