Fear in the transference and countertransference: An interpersonal perspective

Abstract

This paper suggests that fear is a frequent emotional component of transferential and countertransferential experiences in analysis. It describes clinical situations that call for courage on the analyst’s part, and illustrates some manifestations of fear in a long-term treatment.

Key words:

• fear
• courage
• transference
• countertransference
• dissociation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra Buechler

Sandra Buechler, PhD, is a training and supervising analyst at the William A. White Institute in New York, and is the author of Clinical values: Emotions that guide psychoanalytic treatment (Analytic Press, 2004), Making a difference in patients’ lives: Emotional experience in the therapeutic setting (Routledge, 2008), Still practicing: The heartaches and joys of an analytic career (Routledge, 2012), Understanding and treating patients in clinical psychoanalysis: Lessons from literature (Routledge, 2015), Psychoanalytic reflections: Training and practice (IP Books, 2017), and Psychoanalytic approaches to problems in living (Routledge, 2019).