Countertransference is defined as redirection of a psychotherapist's feelings toward a client – or, more generally, as a therapist's emotional entanglement with a client.
The phenomenon of countertransference (Gegenübertragung) was first defined publicly by Sigmund Freud in 1910 (The Future Prospects of Psycho-Analytic Therapy) as being "a result of the patient's influence on [the physician's] unconscious feelings"; although Freud had been aware of it privately for some time, writing to Carl Jung for example in 1909 of the need "to dominate 'counter-transference', which is after all a permanent problem for us". Freud stated that since an analyst is a human himself he can easily let his emotions into the client. Because Freud saw the countertransference as a purely personal problem for the analyst, he rarely referred to it publicly, and did so almost invariably in terms of a "warning against any countertransference lying in wait" for the analyst, who "must recognize this countertransference in himself and master it". However, analysis of Freud's letters shows that he was intrigued by countertransference and did not see it as purely a problem.
The potential danger of the analyst's countertransference – "In such cases, the patient represents for the analyst an object of the past on to whom past feelings and wishes are projected" – became widely accepted in psychodynamic circles, both within and without the psychoanalytic mainstream. Thus, for example, Jung warned against "cases of counter-transference when the analyst really cannot let go of the patient...both fall into the same dark hole of unconsciousness". Similarly Eric Berne stressed that "Countertransference means that not only does the analyst play a role in the patient's script, but she plays a part in his...the result is the 'chaotic situation' which analysts speak of". Lacan acknowledged of the analyst's "countertransference...if he is re-animated the game will proceed without anyone knowing who is leading".
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Transference (Übertragung) is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which repetitions of old feelings, attitudes, desires, or fantasies that someone displaces are subconsciously projected onto a here-and-now person. Traditionally, it had solely concerned feelings from a primary relationship during childhood. Transference was first described by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, who considered it an important part of psychoanalytic treatment. Transference of this kind can be considered inappropriate without proper clinical supervision.
"Acting in" is a psychological term which has been given various meanings over the years, but which is most generally used in opposition to acting out to cover conflicts which are brought to life inside therapy, as opposed to outside. One commentator, noting the variety of usages, points out that it is often "unclear whether 'in' refers to the internalization into the personality, to the growth in insight, or to the acting within the session".
In the psychology of defense mechanisms and self-control, acting out is the performance of an action considered bad or anti-social. In general usage, the action performed is destructive to self or to others. The term is used in this way in sexual addiction treatment, psychotherapy, criminology and parenting. In contrast, the opposite attitude or behaviour of bearing and managing the impulse to perform one's impulse is called acting in. The performed action may follow impulses of an addiction (e.g.
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