What is Transference?

The concept of Transference is one of the most important contribution Sigmund Freud made to the field of mental health. He did so in his role as the forefather of not only Psychoanalysis, but also of Psychology in general.

During initial assessments with patients at The Melbourne Centre of Psychotherapy we take time to explain what transference and the important role the “transference relationship” plays in healing. At the beginning of therapy we describe transference as the way in which the impressions left in a patient’s psyche from significant relationships in the past are transferred onto people when we meet them for the first time. These impressions act as a filter through which we view people that we don’t know.

If a Psychologist is working from a psychoanalytic or psychodynamic perspective they don’t share anything about their personal life, providing a specific context in which the transference can occur easily occur. This enables the practitioner and the patient to work together in what is termed the “transference relationship”. Working in the transference relationship creates a space in which the patient is free to share uncensored thoughts, feelings and fantasies they have in response to the therapeutic process and the practitioner who is treating them. This is a nuanced but highly effective process through which the patient gains a richer understanding of themselves and their relationships with others.

Freud identified three forms of transference: negative transference, positive transference, and erotic transference.

Directly working through each of these forms of transference allows repressed content to surface from the unconscious into the conscious mind and hence the patient can stop acting out unhealthy patterns of behaviour through the process known as ‘repetition compulsion’.