[Physical illness in the transference and countertransference]

The significance of severe physical illness in terms of the repercussions it may have on the course of psychoanalytic treatment is a topic that has received very little attention in the literature. The author approaches the problem from the point of view of transference and counter-transference on the one hand, and from a distinction between self and body-self on the other. Rodewig proceeds on the assumption that a physical ailment can have the character of an object and may thus attain the status of third object. Given the threat posed by dangerous physical illness, the ego has recourse to defence mechanisms such as splitting and separate projective identification of positive and negative object- and self-parts, projecting the omnipotent, idealizing desires onto the therapist and the negative desires onto the ailment itself. In a later stage a de-idealization of the therapist sets in and the latter is identified with the illness so that the illness is then bandied back and forth between patient and analyst. The most challenging technical problem for analysts is avoiding the projection of their own illness and death anxieties onto the patient with a view to resolving them there. Instead, they need to be worked in independently and then given back to the patient devoid of their original virulence. The author illustrates the various facets of the problem with brief reference to various case histories.