The Analytic Couch as Transference Object

A woman walked into my office for an initial consultation, took one look at my analytic couch, and exclaimed, “That's not a couch—it's a bed!” Albeit dramatically, she was exemplifying a universal process: All patients imbue the couch with transference meaning. For our patients, as in the popular mind, the analytic couch is the quintessential symbol of psychoanalysis, with all its connotations, whether common or idiosyncratic. Another woman once wondered if I ever napped on the couch. For me to do so, she added, would seem “sacrilegious.” The couch clearly had an almost sacred significance for her. She was capturing the widespread idealization of the couch that is displaced from an idealizing transference toward the analyst and the analytic process.

First, it may be helpful to clarify my use of the word transference. We usually apply this term to feelings and reactions toward a person, especially the analyst. However, we sometimes extend the term transference to include things, not just people—for example, when we refer to institutional transferences. Searles (1960) has written extensively about the transference meaning of various aspects of the nonhuman environment. The analytic couch is a central feature of the nonhuman environment within the analyst's office. In this article, I explore some of the many transference meanings the couch may assume. In addition, I show how the couch may become a vehicle for