- transference
- 1. Conveyance of an object from one place to another. 2. Shifting of symptoms from one side of the body to the other, as seen in certain cases of conversion hysteria. 3. Displacement of affect from one person or one idea to another; in psychoanalysis, generally applied to the projection of feelings, thoughts, and wishes onto the analyst, who has come to represent some person from the patient's past.- counter t. See countertransference.- negative t. t. characterized by predominantly hostile feelings on the part of the patient toward the analyst.- passive t. the passage of an immunity or allergic susceptibility by the injection of serum of an animal or individual who has acquired an active immunity to the disease.- positive t. t. characterized by predominantly friendly, respectful, and positive feelings on the part of the patient toward the analyst.
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trans·fer·ence tran(t)s-'fər-ən(t)s, 'tran(t)s-(.) n the redirection of feelings and desires and esp. of those unconsciously retained from childhood toward a new object (as a psychoanalyst conducting therapy)* * *
n.(in psychoanalysis) the process by which a patient comes to feel and act towards the therapist as though he or she were somebody from the patient's past life, especially a powerful parent. The patient's transference feelings may be of love or of hatred, but they are inappropriate to the actual person of the therapist. Countertransference is the reaction of the therapist to the patient, which is similarly based on past relationships.* * *
trans·fer·ence (trans-ferґəns) in psychotherapy, the unconscious tendency to assign to others in one's present environment feelings and attitudes associated with significant persons in one's early life, especially the patient's transfer to the therapist of feelings and attitudes associated with a parent. The feelings may be affectionate (positive t.) or hostile (negative t.).
Medical dictionary. 2011.
