ABSTRACT

Classical analysts have recently become interested in the constructive use of countertransference. Some have extended the traditional conception of transference enactment to include the analyst's countertransference enactments. That is, the analyst may unwittingly actualize the patient's transference and, together with the patient, live out intrapsychic configurations. The concept of countertransference enactment was introduced in the literature by Jacobs and has subsequently become a topic of considerable interest among Classical analysts. A Panel of the American Psychoanalytic Association defined countertransference enactment as an actualization of the transference, unwittingly engaged in by the analyst. The role of the analyst as an objective, scientific interpreter of the patient's experience, according to many Interpersonal analysts, has led to a denial of the analyst's inevitable, unwitting participation and to a limited, one-person psychology. Historically, Interpersonal analysts have indeed given short shrift to sexuality and other body phenomena and have been susceptible to the accusation of an unbalanced focus upon matters of external reality.