You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Spitz affirms that it is not useful, and is highly undesirable, for a countertransference neurosis to occur. In agreement with Annie Reich who stated 'countertransference is a necessary prerequisite of analysis', he defines countertransference broadly and says that it may be manifested in this sublimated form or, undesirably, in the form of id derivatives or as the crude expression of a drive. The rule of abstinence operates for the analyst as well as for the patient. Affects and fantasies which arise should be analyzed; regression controlled by the ego should replace acting out. Derivatives with the compelling nature of a neurosis make understanding impossible.
Careless use of the term countertransference often leads to misunderstanding; it properly refers to an unconscious process but is often used incorrectly to mean the conscious derivatives. Proper use of countertransference involves noting and analyzing derivatives in oneself, after which one makes transitory identification of oneself with those processes in the patient that provoke the unconscious process in oneself.