The Analyst's Self-Reflective Participation and the Transference-Countertransference Matrix

In this chapter I shall try to elaborate what I believe to be a few under-theorized points about the transference-countertransference matrix. I will explore an element of the analyst’s self-reflective participation that involves his attitudes about the transference-countertransference – attitudes that influence how he thinks about and uses this realm of clinical information. I introduce a related concept, the “transference-countertransference surround,” to refer to a number of factors and attitudes held by the analyst that surround the concept of understanding, using, and interpreting the transference-countertransference. In total, the transference surround may be usefully understood as a part of what Racker (1968) refers to as the analyst’s “counter-resistances.”