ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud insisted further that transference should itself be regarded as a form of resisting. It is resisting remembering, in that it takes the form of the analysand’s insisting that all feelings toward the analyst, positive and negative, are fully justified or explained by the conventionally viewed and the analytic situation and relationship. Discussion of resisting necessarily overlaps discussion of what has traditionally been called analysis of the ego, of the ego’s defenses, and of character. In any event, the student’s empathically recognizing and appreciating the existence of an active analytic process may well have been undermined by the analysand. When empathizing fails, the analyst may begin to use acting out as a term of disparagement and disapproval. Analytic perfectionism has no legitimate place in the analytic attitude, for it is a form of narcissistic counterresistance, and as such it must lead to failures in empathizing and understanding.
