In this text, the author points out that the notion of friendship plays an important role in the analytic process. It introduces another type of transference in the intersubjective, dynamic field—transference-friendship—as a counterpoint to the idea of transference-love (Freud 1915).

Transference-friendship is positive, sublimated transference that fosters the therapeutic alliance. It is expressed in the dynamics of the analytic field within a comfortable, tender, relaxed, and, at the same time, profound affective atmosphere in which both analyst and analysand are immersed in frank intimacy while at the same time preserving the functional asymmetry of the analytic process.