Psychological Transference: Cognition and Interpersonal Perception

Psychological transference is a central construct inthe theory and practice of most psychodynamic modelsof psychotherapy. The present study empiricallyexamined a key component of transference.Specifically, this study examined the theoreticalproposition that when we are introduced to newpeople who bear similarities to one of our parents,we are inclined to confabulate memories about thesenew individuals consistent with the parent theyresemble. Findings from the present study failed tosupport this psychodynamic proposition. Thesefindings suggest that practitioners of psychodynamicmodels of psychotherapy should not automaticallyassume that their patients are inaccuratelyappraising their therapists as individuals. Thesefindings provide support for the more conventionalnotion that when mental health clients developstrong negative or positive feelings for theirpsychotherapists, that those feelings may well havea significant grounding in the therapist'spresentation of him or herself, as opposed to beinga revivification of feelings from childhoodprojected onto the therapist.

Autorentext

Rodney Ford received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Walden University. He also holds an M.S.W. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Ford has been in clinical practice for over 35 years. He has extensive supervisory, administrative, consultative, and teaching experience in a wide variety of mental health and educational settings.

Klappentext
Psychological transference is a central construct in the theory and practice of most psychodynamic models of psychotherapy. The present study empirically examined a key component of transference. Specifically, this study examined the theoretical proposition that when we are introduced to new people who bear similarities to one of our parents, we are inclined to confabulate memories about these new individuals consistent with the parent they resemble. Findings from the present study failed to support this psychodynamic proposition. These findings suggest that practitioners of psychodynamic models of psychotherapy should not automatically assume that their patients are inaccurately appraising their therapists as individuals. These findings provide support for the more conventional notion that when mental health clients develop strong negative or positive feelings for their psychotherapists, that those feelings may well have a significant grounding in the therapist's presentation of him or herself, as opposed to being a revivification of feelings from childhood projected onto the therapist.