3.8 Transference: Transference Resistances

Actually, transference resistances might well be discussed as one of the categories of clinical transference reactions. However, this group of transference phenomena is of special clinical importance and deserves a greater emphasis and careful elucidation. As I stated previously, transference resistances are the most important and frequent

causes of obstruction to the analytic work (Freud, 1912a). More time is spent in analyzing transference resistances than in any other aspect of the analytic work. Insufficiently analyzed transference resistance is the most important cause of interrupted or stalemated analyses. On the other hand, the effective analysis of resistances leads to the most productive analytic work.

The term transference resistance is a condensation and refers to many different clinical constellations. In each instance it is the transference that is causing the resistance, but in varying ways. For example: the patient may have transference feelings which he may seek to gratify instead of analyze. Or the patient may oppose the analytic procedure because he fears developing certain transference reactions. Or the patient may adopt and cling to certain transference feelings because he dreads other forms of transference reactions, and in order to protect himself he opposes free association.

From a clinical and technical point of view, it is worthwhile to distinguish various types of transference resistance because they differ greatly in their dynamics and structure and in the difficulty of the technical task. The form and structure of the transference resistance change in the patient during the course of psychoanalysis and every patient is unique in the sequence of the different types of resistance. There is also considerable variation in what forms of transference resistance predominate in a particular patient. It should further be borne in mind that a variety of transference resistances may be operating simultaneously, and one of our technical problems is