ABSTRACT
One way of thinking about this extremely complex subject is to imagine that all analyses have at least two transferences running at the same time: one in the foreground and one in the background (Treurniet, 1993). The one transference, sometimes called primordial, basic, narcissistic, or background transference, is a transference to the analyst as the environmental mother, that is, to the analyst as primarily a function for holding and containing rather than as a person to be related to. This is the transference that keeps the analysis ongoing, as it provides some varying degree of basic or analytic trust that allows your patient to fulfil the minimal requirements of an analysis, namely, appearing from time to time, speaking occasionally and paying his bills. This basic transference is largely preconscious or unconscious and handled through management, although it may become an object for analytic examination early on if trust is lacking, or later on as the analysis proceeds.
