That Was Then, This is Now: An Introduction to Contemporary Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (Part 5)

Part 5 of 7: Transference

Index

This work is in seven parts. Here are links to each section.

Part 1: Roots of misunderstanding
Part 2: Unconscious mental life
Part 3: The mind in conflict
Part 4: The past lives on in the present
Part 5: Transference ◀
Part 6: Defense
Part 7: Psychological causation

A person starting therapy is entering an unfamiliar situation and a new relationship and necessarily applies his previously formed templates, scripts, or schemas to organize his perceptions of this new person—the therapist—and make sense of the new situation. There is no alternative other than to view this new relationship through the lens of past relationships; it is not a matter of choice. Thus, different patients show dazzlingly different reactions to the same therapist.