ABSTRACT
The formation and maintenance of an adequate therapeutic relationship are the keys to a positive outcome in therapy. The therapist cannot avoid this transference quagmire even if he or she tries to step out of the transference and downplays the power differential inherent in the therapeutic relationship by taking a more neutral posture. Thus the therapist must take the relational history and determine what the client received, both positive and negative, to ascertain what new psychological inputs the client needs in order to grow, such as more nurturance or support or confrontation. The therapist realized that his posture needed to exclude nurturance. Some incest survivors will allow more of a therapeutic bond than others, depending on their particular histories. If the therapist has not set the stage for the therapy to continue, many survivors terminate treatment abruptly at key point. Therefore, the therapist should be keen to hear clues to this negative transference reaction.
