Transference and its Manifestations

In the previous chapter we have looked at the meaning of the client’s experience and behaviour through an investigation of the internal world and object-relations. There is one particular kind of object relationship to which both client and counsellor have immediate access, the relationship between client and counsellor. All forms of psychodynamic therapy are distinguished from other therapeutic approaches by their focus on the nature of this relationship, known as the transference. Turning one’s attention directly onto the nature of the relationship between client and counsellor, focusing on what goes on in the room between the two, is an essential part of the psychodynamic approach, as we can see again in the case of Mrs A.