The third major feature of the therapeutic process - the role of transference and countertransference - is presented in Chapter 13. There is a description of the different ways in which transference can manifest itself in child and adolescent work. There is also a discussion of the problems of the centrality of the transference, especially the transference interpretation, in relation to child work.

It is proposed that there needs to be a greater playfulness or regulation in the use of the transference. The Winnicottian distinction between making an interpretation and giving one captures the essence of the book’s philosophy, of thinking interpretively without interpreting. The distinction between working ‘in’ the transference and working ‘with’ the transference is articulated.