The transfer it is a process that occurred during a therapy in which psychoanalysis is used. It consists of the projection of feelings that the client has towards another person on his therapist. It occurs especially when talking about someone important in the patient's childhood.
The transference can involve all kinds of emotions, the most classic of which are love and desire. But, on the other hand, a client can transfer emotions such as anger, dependency, or mistrust. This is a normal part of the psychoanalysis process..
In general, transference is typical of a therapy setting. However, in our day to day we can also experience it, when we examine what happens to us in the present based on what we have experienced in the past that is similar.
On the other hand, three types of transference can occur: positive (when we harbor pleasant memories or beliefs about a similar situation), negative (when they are unpleasant), or sexualized..
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In a therapeutic process in which psychoanalysis is used, the patient is not satisfied with seeing his psychologist as a counselor or expert.
On the contrary, one of the most common processes during this type of therapy is to see the psychologist as the reincarnation of a person from the client's past..
In this way, all kinds of feelings and emotions that the patient felt towards someone important from his childhood are projected onto the psychoanalyst..
This brings both great dangers to therapy and very useful opportunities to advance the client's healing process..
In general, because psychoanalysis focuses on talking about the person's childhood and relationships with parents during this time, the feelings that the client felt towards one of their caregivers will be projected through the transference.
Generally, the opposite sex to his own, which according to Freud was the one that most influenced development in most cases.
For Freud, the creator of psychoanalytic therapy, transference can be both a fantastic tool to advance the cure of psychological problems and a very serious danger.
Next we will see what happens when the transference provokes positive emotions towards the therapist, and when the feelings produced are negative.
Finally, we will also study sexualized transference, which due to its special importance in psychoanalysis deserves to be mentioned separately..
In the case of being positive, the transference makes the patient want to please his therapist in everything, since he will feel very attached to him.
Therefore, it will be easier for you to collaborate in what he asks you. Thus, the recovery of the person will occur more quickly.
On the other hand, because normally the psychologist acquires the role of father or mother when the transfer occurs, he will be able to more easily change certain limiting beliefs and thoughts that the person acquired during his childhood..
Finally, by acting as if he were in front of one of his parents, the psychologist can extract a lot of information about his relationship with them.
This is fundamental to the therapeutic process when using psychoanalysis, since it is believed that this relationship is what primarily shapes the personality of each one of us..
However, not all is good in positive transfer. If the feelings produced are very intense, the patient may feel too attached to his psychologist and avoid improving in order to continue seeing him.
In addition, they will believe that they need you to be well, so they will trust less in themselves and their self-esteem will deteriorate.
Sometimes the feelings harbored towards parents are not the most positive in the world. Sometimes the person feels anger, rage, abandonment or distrust towards them.
If these emotions are transferred to the psychologist, the therapy will suddenly be full of complications, although some opportunities may also appear.
The main problem that occurs with negative transference is that the relationship between patient and therapist will become cloudy.
Since a good connection between the two is essential in psychoanalysis, the results of the process will worsen. Sometimes it may even be necessary to stop therapy.
Another problem that can occur is that, although the patient decides to continue with the psychoanalysis process, he unconsciously harbors resentment towards his therapist. In these cases, they will not heed their advice or guidelines, and will put obstacles in their recovery.
As you can see, negative transference is often a major impediment to therapy. However, an experienced psychoanalyst could use it to their advantage..
As the negative emotions felt towards the parents are being projected, the therapist could use it to work on them and release some of the blocks produced by childhood experiences.
In the most extreme cases of transference, the feelings harbored by the therapist may be romantic or sexual in nature..
This is considered very dangerous, since the patient is in a vulnerable situation in which the psychologist could take advantage of his relationship with him.
Therefore, psychoanalysts must be very aware of the possibility of this occurring. On the other hand, they have to adhere to the deontological code of their profession, which expressly prohibits them from having relationships of any kind with their patients during the time the therapy is taking place..
However, the sexualized transference can also be quite useful for the therapist who knows how to use it. For Freud, relationships with one's parents during childhood also have a certain romantic or sexual component..
Therefore, working on these powerful feelings during therapy can help resolve psychological problems more quickly..
As can be seen, the transference during the psychoanalytic process is neither good nor bad in itself. Depending on how it is used and what effects it produces, it can become a great ally of the therapist, or a serious problem.
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