Vicissitudes of remembering in the countertransference. Fervent failure, colonisation and remembering otherwise

The author argues that certain kinds of transference can have great impact on the analyst's ego functioning. One such effect is impairment of ready recall of the analytic material, such as life historical data, the analytic process itself, and his or her role as analyst. The analyst strives to remember otherwise by analysing the patient's projective identifications and other defensive, manipulative strategies. When successful, these strategies may be said to colonise the analyst's mind. Although other ego functions are often affected by colonisation, remembering is of particular interest owing to its importance in building up and keeping ready at hand the contexts within which balanced and timely interpretations can be formulated with some hope that they will be heard and used effectively and progressively by the threatened, phantasy-ridden patient. Special attention will be paid to themes of failure; other themes, such as omnipotence and erotised transferences will be considered later on. Clinical illustrations are included.