ABSTRACT

The changes in the affect’s theoretical standing have resulted in a number of consequences at the clinical level. The affective self-experience is the most pressing or relevant driving force in the therapy session at any given time. The transference is the carrier of the subject’s feelings towards internalized object relations and of the affective context in which the old object relations are embedded. By listening to her own emotions within the role of a transference figure, the therapist may access the affective qualities of the old scenarios and their significance within the patient’s psychic reality. Transference is always present in the relation, consciously or unconsciously. When the transference affect is in focus, the therapist enters into direct interaction with derivatives of emotions from past relational scenarios. This stance provides the therapist with a privileged position to experience – through his own affect – the affective mode of the patient’s infantile relations.