The "dumb spot" a special problem in countertransference

A special kind of countertransference which we call the "dumb spot," has been observed and described. We have delineated "dumb spots" which are the result of unlearned theory, the result of learned but not accepted theory, and the result of learned, accepted but not used theory. Those "dumb spots" resulting from unlearned theory, especially in those areas where psychoanalysis is widening its scope of diagnostic categories, age range, and socioeconomic status, are not considered countertransference errors. Those "dumb spots" resulting from learned, accepted but not used theory, we feel do represent special cases of countertransference phenomena. Theory which is learned but not accepted must be differentiated into that which is not accepted as a result of intellectual judgment and that which cannot be accepted because it would require an alteration in the analyst's self or object representations.