Transference develops in therapy situations where the client feels inferior to the superior therapist, leading to dependence and regression. Transference can occur to some extent in client-centered therapy depending on how ambiguous the situation is and the client's readiness. Transference and countertransference can be positive or negative, stemming from similarities between the therapist and important people in the client's past that evoke old feelings and patterns. For example, a therapist may shy away from a distant client due to reminders of her father. A child psychologist found her past issues with her stepmother were interfering with her work until she resolved them through her own therapy.

1. POKHREL,BHARAT
11-2-14277
TRANSFERANCE AND COUNTERTRANSFERENCE
Transference, develops in a situation where the therapist is a superior, authoritative
figure, and the client is made to feel inferior and childlike. A dependence of the client on the
therapist naturally results. A threatening and insecure situation fosters regression and leads to
defensiveness (resistance), which encourages projection and misperception of the actual
situation.
Transference can and does develop to some extent in many client-centered therapy
experiences, however. It will be remembered that transference is a function of the client and the
situation. To the extent that client-centered therapy is ambiguous, transference may and does
develop. Clients may be more or less "ready" to develop a transference relationship. This
readiness is perhaps related to the nature and severity of their maladjustment or disturbance.
Example: Sigmund Freud while he was using the technique of hypnosis with his patients. A female
patient, upon awakening from ther hypnotic trance, threw her arms around him for which he mention it
as a false conception.
Transference and countertransference can be positive or negative, and be beneficial or harmful
to the relationship. For example, your brown eyes may remind me of my mother who was warm and
kind to me, and that may make me more empathic or compassionate towards you. Or your distant
attitude may remind me of my father, and I may think that you do not like me, and I may in turn shy
away from you, and thereby show less empathy. These old patterns arise in the current relationship
though they are reflections from the past.
Example: Ellen, a child psychologist, worked in a neighborhood agency. She had lost her mother when
she was three years old. Her father subsequently married a woman with two daughters. Ellen never felt
treated fairly by her stepmother. As a result, she was particularly anxious about her child clients who
had stepparents. As much of her caseload involved children of divorce, her anxiety was persistent and
gradually increased to uncontainable levels. During a much-needed leave of absence, she sought
therapy for herself. She became aware that unresolved issues from her own childhood were infringing
on her ability to effectively help her young clients. Becoming aware of the consequences and how they
affected her was inadequate to enable her return to work. However, sticking with her own therapy
proved to be important. Once she resolved the issues that were provoked by her clients, she was better
able to help them without suffering along with them.