Transference and Countertransference as Interpersonal Phenomena: An Introduction

Transference, for Interpersonal analysts, refers to the unconscious transfer of experience from one interpersonal context to another. It refers, in other words, to the reliving of past interpersonal relations in current situations. The concept of transference, thus, is a fundamental expression of the Interpersonal psychoanalytic conviction that "the patterns of our later interpersonal relationships are formed in our early lives, repeated in our later lives, and can be understood through the medium of their repetition" (Fromm-Reichmann, 1950, p. 4), particularly in the mutual aspects of the patientanalyst relationship.