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THE VICISSITUDES OF TRANSFERENCE AND COUNTERTRANSFERENCE IN THE ANALYSIS OF A 57-YEAR-OLD CHILD-ABUSED WOMAN. Edward M. Weinshel, M.D.
Dr. Weinshel presented a candid, detailed examination of a single case with an emphasis on transference and countertransference. The referral had come from a respected senior analyst in another city who had treated this patient successfully many years ago. The patient's husband had died recently, and she was not coping well. Dr. Weinshel was flattered by and curious about the referral.
The patient appeared younger than her age. She told of being lonely after the death of her husband and "ashamed that she was not coping well." She talked of her husband's death with a paucity of emotion and a preoccupation with reality problems. In the second hour she presented a dream with associations that, to Dr. Weinshel, seemed like too much too soon, reflective of too much trauma. Dr. Weinshel thought her statement, "I can't do anything right," was related to her first session with him. She had presented material that led him to believe she was confused sexually and concerned about her sexual identity. She took responsibility for everything that had ever happened to her, even in her infancy. It appeared as if the rapidly developing transference had been transferred from the referring analyst.
Dr. Weinshel was immediately aware of a countertransference bond to the patient because she told of growing up in the town where Dr. Weinshel had spent his favorite years in college and medical school. While she was growing up, her father had been her idol, and she had always wanted to be his favorite. They were very close, but she had felt betrayed when he had sided with his apparently disturbed wife. The patient had multiple complaints about her mother, who was intrusive, unable to control her emotions, and seemed crazy. "When the patient confronted her father with mother's bizarre actions, he insisted that the patient was wrong and had misperc