Regression in the countertransference: working with the archetype of the abandoned child.

Full Abstract

The author describes briefly some experiences of his sense of non-existence as an analyst in relation to five patients. He considers the possible countertransference significance of these experiences and puts forward a hypothesis that his sense of non-existence as an analyst might be a clue to regression in the patient to the anxieties of a baby without a mother, even though other clinical evidence of regression might be lacking. Referring back to Jung's early formulation of transference and countertransference as aspects of the unconscious identity shared between analyst and patient, he further develops his hypothesis, suggesting that, in the cases he has presented, analyst and patient were relating through shared dynamic roots in the archetype of the abandoned child. He briefly demonstrates how the understanding thus achieved was of clinical use in the analyses of the patients he has presented.

Author information

Author/s: Bright, George (G);

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of analytical psychology (J Anal Psychol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 54 (issue 3) : pp 379-94

Dates: Created 2009/06/17; Completed 2009/09/03;

PMID: 19531126, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/4/2009, IMS Date: )

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