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The importance of resistance to the transference is so well known and so amply written about that it seems unlikely that anything worthwhile can still be written on the subject. Nevertheless, from the responses to the presentation of my data during the past decade, from the literature, and from the reports of patients who have had prior analysis, I have become convinced that certain resistances are not interpreted as frequently as they can be advantageously, and I think that it is quite possible that they are not recognized. Therefore it may be useful to document my clinical experience.
There are two forms of resistance to the transference which are ubiquitous. One is the form in which the self representation remains intact and the transference is alluded to by displacement. This form is more generally recognized and interpreted. I shall cite a few examples of it mainly to make my meaning clear. The second form is one in which the self representation is changed, typically by means of a transitory identification of the patient with the analyst. This form is the one that I think is less well recognized and I shall illustrate it more extensively.
The clinical material I am reporting is restricted to the concept I am describing. It concerns the most immediate, most superficial level of analysis. It concerns the recognition of the transference which is only the first step in its development and in its interpretation and resolution. What I am reporting is what occurs before interpretations of genesis can be begun in a meaningful way, that is in any way other than the intellectual hypotheses which can be derived from a history itself.
As an example of the form of resistance in which the self representation is intact, I cite an incident from the analysis of a young woman who was convinced at the time that I was unduly attracted to her and that I was therefore very restrained and punctiliously correct. One hour she reported that she had gone to the 'movies' and had s