ABSTRACT
Cure by truth and by illusion are closely interwoven at the heart of psychoanalysis. The technique of psychoanalysis depends crucially on a phenomenon evoked by an act of psychic prestidigitation. As used in psychoanalytic treatment, the transference refers to the displacement of conflictual wishes from an earlier relationship into the relationship with the analyst. Psychoanalysis began with the appreciation of the therapeutic effectiveness of discharging emotion—with the relief of hysterical symptoms of the cathartic method. The ideal model of analysis had already in Sigmund Freud’s day undergone a shift of emphasis from the direct emotional results of recall in favour of the growth of the synthetic functions of the personality. Freud came to see that the transference uses a multiplicity of childhood relationships and often expresses them indirectly via other relationships, that it ‘uses reality very skilfully’ and that defences against the transference wishes are as important as the wishes themselves.
