Transference in Borderline Cases1

The factor in interpersonal relationships of any variety, whether it is the very intimate quality of lovers or the seemingly impersonal business relationship, can be expressed, in a wide sense, to be that of transference, described more specifically by Freud (2) in the relationship between patient and analyst. Freud described “this factor of transference as the unconscious expectant libidinal impulses which will be inevitably aroused, in any one whose need for love is not being satisfied or gratified in reality, by each new person coming upon the scene. It is, therefore, entirely normal and comprehensible that the libido-cathexis, expectant and in readiness, should be turned also towards the person of the physician. The patient will weave the figure of the physician into one of the series of prototypes already constructed in the mind. However, the transference is not bound to this prototype. It can proceed from the mother to the brother, to the sister, and to all the individuals in the patient's experience.”

“As we all know, the very factor of transference which is a favorable factor in the therapy of the patient, also so paradoxically serves as a strong resistance in every patient.” Freud (2) goes on to explain resistance as an introversion of libido. “That is, the quantity of libido which is capable of becoming conscious, and is directed towards reality, has become diminished, while the part which is unconscious and turned away from reality, is by so much increased.”

In the borderline schizophrenic, these qualities in the transference become more apparent immediately and are more unhesitatingly expressed. In the case of the neurotic patient, these factors are strongly repressed in the ratio of the intensity of his early childhood experiences. The borderline patient shows very little inhibition upon the first contact with the physician. The patient will express open feelings for the person of the doctor, either love or hate, accompanied by actual verbalization of the