Chapter 6 Countertransference in an Intersubjective Perspective: An Experiment

O wad some power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as others see us!

It wad frae monie a blunder free us,

An' foolish notion.

The stimulus for me to undertake this experiment arose from my special interest in the approaches to psychoanalytic therapy of Schwaber (1981a, b, 1983a, b, c, 1986, 1987) and an interest in the proponents of intersubjectivity, Stolorow, Brandchaft, and Atwood (Atwood and Stolorow, 1984; Stolorow, Brandchaft, and Atwood, 1987). It seemed to me that these approaches to psychoanalytic therapy were very promising, especially in the treatment of difficult patients, but that sufficient attention has not been given to the special countertransference problems associated with these approaches. There is a dearth of examples illustrating the countertransference experiences of the therapist. Consequently, I decided I would undertake a research project composed of an examination of the data of my countertransference experiences with my patients over a four-month period.

The four-month period of the study included a two-week vacation, taken after seven weeks of patient treatment. My intention was to try to discover the manner in which my own self-organization interacted