The analysis of transference: a critique of Fenichel's Problems of psychoanalytic technique

Three principles of the analysis of transference are proposed: first, that transference is encouraged to expand within the analytic situations; second, that the principal technique for doing so is the interpretation of disguised allusions to transference in the patient's manifest associations; and, third, that transference is primarily resolved by its interpretation in the here and now of the therapeutic situation. This third principle includes three major considerations: (1) all transference is related to something in the actual therapeutic situation; (2) the analysis of transference requires an examination of the extent to which the actual therapeutic situation does and does not account for the patient's experience of the relationship; and (3) in this examination the patient simultaneously has a new experience and acquires insight into how that experience differs from his predetermined expectations. The extent to which these principles are derived from Freud's writings is briefly discussed. Finally, Fenichel's monograph is examined and shown to fall short due to failure to employ these principles.