Cross Cultural Differences in the Manifestation of Transference Outside the Psychoanalytical Setting
Transference is a phenomenon that, since its identification and
description by Freud,1-6 has been the focus of study7-11 by those interested in the psychological principles of human interaction. Clara
Thompson12 stated that “transference was not created by psychoanalysis. As long as human beings have had relationships with each
other, there have probably been irrational elements in those relationships” (p. 273). According to her, these irrational elements have
been quite evident in those relationships in which one person was
in a position of authority. She pointed out that “when Freud first
described the phenomena which he grouped under the name transference, he was merely clarifying something which has been used
unwittingly by physicians in their treatment of the sick throughout
the ages” (p. 273). She goes on stating that there is usually an element of dependency involved in these relationships. The other person is quite often placed in a position of authority either by the patient or circumstances. Therefore, not only physicians, but teachers,
employers, supervisors, sometimes even a spouse or friend if the
patient is dependent on them emotionally, financially, or any other
manner, may be the recipients of transference reactions.
Saravay,13 looking at psychoanalytical concepts when applied to
the treatment of the medically ill, pointed out that these patients
are very often in a regressed state and “in a state of transference
readiness.” Such concepts have been the focus of observation by
other authors in the field Baudry and Wiener,14 Grossman,15,16 and
Kernberg.
17 According to Baudry and Wiener,14 in these patients,
the most common defense mechanisms used are denial, regression
to a more childlike attitude, with “passive surrender and over idealization of the hospital and the surgeon” (p. 124). This idealization in the transference is a concept that has been largely described
by Kohut18,19 in his treatment of narcissistic patients. Without fully
endorsing his explanation of the phenomena, but rather as an empirical observation, idealization is here understood as a feature of
the transference. In it, the love object is invested with powers, and
usually, such a love object is overly idealized. Kohut talks about this
aspect of the positive transference, stating that it is “closely akin to
that encountered in the state of being in love” (p. 55).
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