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September 16, 1980. THE "UNOBJECTIONABLE" COMPONENT OF THE TRANSFERENCE. Martin H. Stein, M.D.
The so-called "unobjectionable" component of the transference, which allows the patient to cooperate in the analytic process, has been described as the "working alliance" (Greenson) and the "therapeutic alliance" (Zetzel). Dr. Stein acknowledged that such concepts have entered common parlance, but he raised questions about their usefulness. He illustrated his doubts with a clinical description of a group of patients. These are patients who take to analysis easily and are typically neurotic, young, and intelligent. Their transference is predominantly positive, and they are devoted to analysis. In the transference the analyst is treated as a pleasant, appreciative parent surrogate. The patients' underlying sexuality and hostility is disguised by a façade of cooperativeness, interest, and analytic adeptness. The oedipal form of the transference is powerfully defended against, and when it is brought to the attention of these patients, they become anxious and depressed. The analysis stops running so smoothly. From the side of the analyst, these patients are likely to evoke kindly, protective parental countertransference reactions, perpetuating infantile patterns in the