Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 41(2), Apr 2024, 65-71; doi:10.1037/pap0000496
During the course of treatment, the analyst may develop feelings and attitudes about the people in her patient’s life. She may feel angered by a neglectful parent, frustrated by an insensitive spouse, or intrigued by a glamorous friend. At times, the patient’s object world can be so alluring that the analyst may fail to recognize her feelings as countertransference reactions. This article will explore these reactions through the concept of countertransference to the patient’s objects and will illuminate how this aspect of countertransference can be particularly elusive. When this facet of countertransference is unanalyzed, countertransference collusions can form. This article will discuss ways for identifying these collusions so that countertransference to the patient’s objects can facilitate rather than impede the analytic work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)