Psychoanalysis and the Positive Transference
Psychoanalysis is a way of working that is deep and rich. Listening to someone intently, and with an ear tuned into the unconscious, to nonverbal clues, to tone of voice, to facial expression, is a wonderful way of knowing and understanding someone. Free association, exploring how we defend ourselves from the "too muchness" of life, including noise, criticism, intrusion, misunderstandings, accusations, you name it, is smart and something most patients like. Who doesn't want to feel there is someone in their corner, paying attention to who they are and how they express themselves? We all want that.
At the same time, I want to mention something I do not completely agree with in psychoanalysis. I disagree with the way transference and countertransference are studied, with often only the negative feelings in mind. Anger, separation, becoming your own person apart from the analyst? I completely support that. But what I find sad, too, about psychoanalysis, is that the work of John Bowlby, a psychoanalyst in his own right, is rarely mentioned in most circles. Bowlby believed in the importance of the analyst serving as a secure base for the patient. He believed in the importance of a secure attachment. The work of Donald Winnicott, who wrote about how a baby and mother develop in relationship, together, how they also develop a secure attachment, is also not mentioned merely enough. And so many analysts are attuned to forming a connection with a patient, encouraging free association, exploring a patients defenses, helping them modify object relations over time, but they don't always feel as comfortable celebrating the positive attachment that develops, and the joyful transference, as well.
Sometimes it's only the anger, what some analysts call 'enactments', misattunements and misunderstandings, that is seen as critical to the success of the analysis. But what about the term I put in the title of this post? The POSITIVE TRANSFERENCE?. Dr Diana Fosha, is a psychologist who is very interested in affirming patients strengths. After writing THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF AFFECT, (2000) Fosha founded an entire school of therapy, called AEDP, which stands for Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. Fosha teaches therapists to acknowledge and celebrate patients strengths and victories along with helping them with the problems they bring to the session. And this really blows the lid off the school of suspicion, and the exclusive searching for problems only, always bad things, the 'what did I do wrong this time?' attitude in both therapists as well as patients, instead of a more balanced and fair perspective. As an analyst, I do not like the school of suspicion, a phrase used by Dr Paul Wachtel, a distinguished professor of psychology at CUNY (City College of New York). He criticizes the idea that therapists/analysts are often taught to search mainly for hidden anger and unacknowledged mistakes, in myself, and you, above all things. Are you feeling angry with me? If so, great. i welcome all your feelings in a session, and if you feel anger, a sense of outrage, a sense of unjustice or resentment about something, I want to know all about it! All your feelings matter! All of them!
But I also want to know about what you like, what makes you happy, and what is working well for you already. I want you to be able eventually to see yourself as both strong as well as weak a times; a survivor as well as a victim at times, filled with vitality and hope, sometimes also shame, regret and grief. I want you to feel able to feel ALL of your feelings. Feelings are our life blood. Feelings are life~ Grieving is important and necessary too, I am all for grief, so I mention it in particular, because it is often avoided to our detriment, but so is fun and hope and using our imaginations to see ourselves in new and exciting ways that allow our true destiny to unfold. So let's replace the school of suspicion with the school of thinking outside the box. Let's combine enactments with encouragement, apologies when necessary with praise, looking beneath the surface while also rising above our wildest dreams.
