Countertransference is a cornerstone of our psychoanalytic work and yet the history of our understanding of this clinical phenomenon is suffused with conflicts we continue to struggle with today. Our experience of countertransference reflects the ebbs and flows of how it has been conceptualized. Most clinicians today would agree that it could be a problem indicating the need for more analysis (S. Freud, A. Reich), and/or an internal resource that gives us crucial information about the patient’s unconscious (P. Heimann). As a co-created phenomenon, authors have tried to account for the tensions involved in countertransference through ideas like complimentary & concordant (Racker) and objective & subjective (Winnicott). While all these concepts have their merits, they fail to account for the fact that, since countertransference is largely unconscious, as analysts we are too often tempted to ‘coast in the countertransference’ (Hirsch). There has been emphasis on the need for self-reflection if the analyst encounters troubling feelings within themselves, but it is precisely when the analyst feels untroubled that one might ‘coast in the countertransference’, sparing oneself and the patient the difficult task of analysis.

On this 30th anniversary of our Annual Days in Psychoanalysis, we will be hosting two distinguished speakers for presentations and a conversation on the ethics and responsibility involved in working with our countertransference. Drawing from his most recent work, Fred Busch will explore and expand on the self-analytic process that is involved in taking an ethical approach to our countertransference with patients. Extending his considerations beyond the consulting room, Busch will also explore the topic of gossip in psychoanalytic institutions and how our complicity in gossip comes from a countertransference based in the primal scene. In a complementary presentation, Vic Sedlak’s paper will explore the clinical (and supervisory) implications of “The Countertransference as an Unconscious Phenomenon”. Unconscious countertransferences exert a dynamic effect on the analyst’s creation of the clinical situation which can hinder the analytic process, so Sedlak aims to make us more aware of the part the clinician plays in creating the situation and suggest ways to mitigate these unavoidable difficulties. A conversation between both speakers and the audience will conclude our day.

The Countertransference as an Unconscious Phenomenon.

Vic Sedlak, PhD, Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Psycho-Analytical Society

Abstract: In this paper I will consider what the clinical implications are of the fact that the countertransference of the psychoanalyst in an analytic session is largely an unconscious phenomenon. It will nevertheless have a dynamic effect on the analyst’s understanding of the situation in the consulting room and on his/her behaviors and sometimes to the detriment of analytic progress. I will illustrate this with clinical vignettes from my own practice and from my work as a supervisor/consultant. I will attempt to describe some steps we can take to mitigate against the anti-therapeutic consequences of this phenomenon.

Learning objectives:

1. To make one more aware of one’s part in the creation of clinical situations.
2. To suggest ways that this unavoidable difficulty might be mitigated by one’s analytic attitude to one’s work.

Creating a Psychoanalytic Mind

Fred Busch, FIPA, PhD, Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute

Abstract: As Psychoanalysts we’ve often been unclear as to what the goals are for our patients. Partly this seems due to the widening scope of patients we now treat via psychoanalysis compared to when I was in training. However, even for what we may call the classic neurotic, we don’t have an agreed upon goals. In this paper I suggest that the most important goal is creating a psychoanalytic mind in the patient. In broad brush strokes what this means is helping help the patient, via the method of free association, to view their associations as thoughts that are coming to mind. This can lead to the inevitability of action being replaced by the possibility of reflection. The reasoning behind this position will be presented along with the methods to bring it about.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe how creating a psychoanalytic mind develops.
2. Discuss the methods necessary to bring about a psychoanalytic mind.
3. Explain why building representations is important in developing a psychoanalytic mind.

Presenters

Vic Sedlak, PhD

Vic Sedlak, PhD, is a Training and Supervising Analyst in the British Psychoanalytical Society and is currently its President. He trained at the Society’s Institute of Psychoanalysis and at the Tavistock Clinic London. He is an Honorary Member of the Polish Psychoanalytic Society and a past Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis at Kyoto University in Japan. He is the author of The Psychoanalyst’s Superegos, Ego Ideals and Blind Spots published by Routledge in 2019 and of several papers in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. He works in private practice in the North of England.

Fred Busch, FIPA, PhD

Fred Busch, FIPA, PhD is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.