Responses to creativity in psychoanalysts

A discussion of "Concerning Transference and Countertransference" by Harold Searles, M.D. Searles's study, written and rejected for publication in 1948-49 contains six original contributions to these subjects. They include the definition of determinants of transference in the immediate analytic interaction, the role of projection in transference and its evocation by the analyst, its basis in actual traits of the analyst which are exaggerated, and its expression as an effort to elicit confirmatory responses. Searles also details the fullness of the analyst's participation in the therapeutic interaction and the constructive usage of countertransference reactions. The negative responses to Searles's creativity prompt the thesis that every professional has a wish to both accept and destroy the innovator and his innovations. Factors include envy, a dread of inner turmoil, impingements on countertransference defenses, and deviations in the conditions of training analysts. These reactions are paralleled by refractoriness to the patient's unconscious creativity and efforts to cure the analyst. The manifestations of these hostile reactions and the innovator's responses to them are discussed.