Transformations of transference

Transference can be understood to have complementary aspects: the experience in the here-and-now of the relationship with the analyst and the repetition of old relationships. The concept of an enactment is proposed to describe the vivid reexperience of childhood relationships in the here-and-now of the analytic relationship. Countertransference contributions to the enactment are discussed. Transference transformation results from the juxtaposition of the regressive transference enactment and transference experiences that are new and novel to the patient. The analyst can promote such changes by his interpretation of resistances both to the reexperience of the transference repetition and to awareness of the new and novel elements that spontaneously appear in the relationship with the analyst.