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Peter Carnochan's aim in this long and lucid treatise is to “create a coherent foundation” for the discussion of countertransference, “through a consideration of history, epistemology and virtue.” He does just that. But in fact he does more. The first half or more of this book is an extremely competent review of the concept of countertransference, from Freud's early condemnation of it through to the revision of the concept since 1950 and its rehabilitation as one of the analyst's greatest assets. In the book's latter part, Carnochan spells out three sets of philosophical assumptions that have affected psychoanalytic ideas and practice over the past century.
The review is in itself a valuable contribution. Carnochan's view is that Freud feared countertransference for a variety of reasons. These included his wish to found an objective science based on impartial observation; his personal attempt to control his own feelings with more frustrating patients, especially when he was hard-pressed to keep a full practice; and his knowledge that analysts—such as Jung and Ferenczi—did in fact fall in love in ways that could have been harmful, professionally and otherwise. The author challenges the view that the