In this paper I maintain, and illustrate clinically, the point that the analyst, by analysing the transference, is analysing past and present at the same time.

Following the Kleinian understanding of the internal object relationships, and using case material to illustrate my point, I support the view that the past is alive in the present, and that transference is an alloy of past and present. By understanding and interpreting the transference the analyst is dealing with the patient's early conflicts, which can only be understood and resolved when lived through in the present with the analyst.