From torment to hope: countertransference in parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of countertransference as a clinical tool in parent-infant psychotherapy. We describe various theoretical concepts that link to countertransference and outline six parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy cases from our clinical work. We explore and illustrate countertransferential processes using three common clinical categories, anxiety, depression and personality disorder. We present a model of working with the countertransference that enables the clinician to identify the position they take up in relation to the most prevalent emotion communicated by the mother and infant in the therapeutic encounter.

Keywords:

• parent-infant psychotherapy
• countertransference
• anxiety
• depression
• personality disorders
• attachment
• systemic countertransference
• observational approach
• maternal preoccupation
• paternal preoccupation
• professional network

Notes

This paper was presented as a clinical teach-in session, at the 13th World Congress of the World Association for Infant Mental Health held in Cape Town, South Africa, in April 2012.