The patient's perception of the analyst: the hidden transference

Just as the person of the analyst becomes a nidus for the manifestations of transference, so does the analyst's technique. When the patient misperceives person and technique, identifying the transference is not difficult. More complicated are those situations in which the patient's perception of the analyst and of his or her technique is congruent with the analyst's self-representation, or when the patient uses reality aspects of the analysis and the analyst as a resistance. Clinical material from the analysis of three patients is used to illustrate this.