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One of the still debated problems in psychoanalysis concerns the elements that make up the transference reactions of patients. Freud, in first describing transference, related it to the repetition compulsion. Since then other aspects of the problem have been studied and the following questions about the transference phenomenon can now be posed. Is the transference only a manifestation of the repetition compulsion? Is it an explicit manifestation of the particular interpersonal relation with the analyst? Is it only the irrational aspects of a relationship which the patient projects on the analyst? Does it vary with the personality of the analyst? Is the analyst really a blank screen on which the previous relationships of the patient are projected? Or is it likely that these factors are all present with different ones assuming greater or lesser importance due to the particular characteristics of the analysis?
It is known that a patient's reaction to a personal event in the life of the analyst offers an opportunity for scrutinizing the elements which enter into that patient's transference. If the given personal event impinges concomitantly on all the patients in an analytical group, we may be presented with an opportunity to observe a number of reactions to what might be called a common stimulus or common test situation. This may give us some basis for discussing the questions raised.
With this possibility in mind I should like to report clinical experiences with a group of analytical patients when such an event occurred. This event was a miscarriage which necessitated my being away from the office for two weeks. The second week was spent in the hospital. Because of the nature of the illness appointments had to be cancelled abruptly and without warning. Each patient was told that because of illness I would not be available for several days and that he would be notified when I was ready to resume work. For some of the patients this explanation sufficed until my return. Th