ABSTRACT
In psychodynamic psychotherapy, expression of feelings and consideration of their significance along with the development of insight into the role of unconscious mechanisms is deemed to be important. It is postulated that that symptoms represent an emotional boil or abscess unable to find a path to the surface and that it is important to lance it to make therapeutic progress and bring psychological relief. Carl Rogers described accurate empathy as involving skilful reflective listening that clarifies and amplifies the person's own experiences and meaning, without imposing the counsellor's own material. The therapeutic alliance will be affected by the transference and countertransference originally described by Sigmund Freud and so relevant to our everyday relationships. The transference projection is a communication of the individual's needs that cannot be verbally expressed. Dynamic psychotherapy aims to resolve the transference; it promotes bringing reflection and thought to bear on his or her feelings rather than enactment of his or her expectations.
