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In this paper I propose an alternative to the current theory regarding the problem of the “unobjectionable part of the transference.”
In “The Dynamics of Transference,” Freud (1912) states:
We find in the end that we cannot understand the employment of transference as resistance so long as we think simply of “transference.” We must make up our minds to distinguish a “positive” transference from a “negative” one, the transference of affectionate feelings from that of hostile ones, and to treat the two sorts of transference to the doctor separately [p. 105].
Freud thus breaks down “positive transference” into “transference of friendly or affectionate feelings which are admissible to consciousness and transference of prolongations of those feelings into the unconscious” that “invariably go back to erotic sources.” He does not make a similar distinction for “negative transference,” that is, for the transference of hostile feelings. Freud's conclusion is, therefore, that negative transference, unlike positive transference, is to be detached from the doctor's person insofar as it is transference resistance:
Thus the solution of the puzzle is that transference to the doctor is suitable for resistance… insofar as it is a negative transference or a positive transference of repressed erotic impulses. If we “remove” the transference by making it conscious, we are detaching only these two
I am truly indebted to Merton M. Gill for his encouragement and suggestions. I also thank Pier Francesco Galli for his continuous support and stimulating discussions. Marina Bullock contributed to the improvement of the English manuscript.
Page 107components from the person of the doctor; the other component which is admissible to consciousness and unobjectionable, persists and is the vehicle of success in psycho-analysis exactly as it is in other methods of treatment [p. 105].
My thesis is that the unobjectionable positive transference has to be counterbalanced from the very beginning of the analytic tre