Negative transference is the psychoanalytic term for the

transference Transference (german: Übertragung) is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which the "feelings, attitudes, or desires" a person had about one thing are subconsciously projected onto the here-and-now Other. It usually concerns feelings from a ...

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 explained as originating in conflicts i ...

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 in Vienna – 22 January 1946 in Los Angeles) was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". Education and psychoanalytic affiliations Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already ...

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

in her disputes with

Anna Freud Anna Freud (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 and contribut ...

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 Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and ...

followed her theoretical lead in seeing "the projection 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 Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ai ...

have tended to stress the positive results that can emerge from working with the negative transference.

Technical blocks

Fritz Wittels Fritz Wittels, born Siegfried Wittels" parents, who were full of the Wagnerian enthusiasm of those days, named me Siegfried. I was always ashamed of that name, which was too glorious to be used on weekdays, so they called me Fritz..." (November ...

considered the brevity of Wilhelm Stekel's analyses to be due to his

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

being unable to endure the emergence of the negative transference. *

Rollo May Rollo Reece May (April 21, 1909 – October 22, 1994) was an American existential psychologist and author of the influential book '' Love and Will'' (1969). He is often associated with humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy, ...

saw the flaw in

person-centered therapy Person-centered therapy, also known as person-centered psychotherapy, person-centered counseling, client-centered therapy and Rogerian psychotherapy, is a form of psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers beginning in the 1940s and ex ...

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