Coasting in the Countertransference

Conflicts of Self Interest between Analyst and Patient

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Mental Health
Cover of the book Coasting in the Countertransference by Irwin Hirsch, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Irwin Hirsch ISBN: 9781135469436
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: February 25, 2011
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Irwin Hirsch
ISBN: 9781135469436
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: February 25, 2011
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Winner of the 2009 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic Scholarship!

Irwin Hirsch, author of Coasting in the Countertransference, asserts that countertransference experience always has the potential to be used productively to benefit patients. However, he also observes that it is not unusual for analysts to 'coast' in their countertransferences, and to not use this experience to help treatment progress toward reaching patients' and analysts' stated analytic goals. He believes that it is quite common that analysts who have some conscious awareness of a problematic aspect of countertransference participation, or of a mutual enactment, nevertheless do nothing to change that participation and to use their awareness to move the therapy forward. Instead, analysts may prefer to maintain what has developed into perhaps a mutually comfortable equilibrium in the treatment, possibly rationalizing that the patient is not yet ready to deal with any potential disruption that a more active use of countertransference might precipitate.

This 'coasting' is emblematic of what Hirsch believes to be an ever present (and rarely addressed) conflict between analysts’ self-interest and pursuit of comfortable equilibrium, and what may be ideal for patients’ achievement of analytic aims. The acknowledgment of the power of analysts’ self-interest further highlights the contemporary view of a truly two-person psychology conception of psychoanalytic praxis. Analysts’ embrace of their selfish pursuit of comfortable equilibrium reflects both an acknowledgment of the analyst as a flawed other, and a potential willingness to abandon elements of self-interest for the greater good of the therapeutic project.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Winner of the 2009 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic Scholarship!

Irwin Hirsch, author of Coasting in the Countertransference, asserts that countertransference experience always has the potential to be used productively to benefit patients. However, he also observes that it is not unusual for analysts to 'coast' in their countertransferences, and to not use this experience to help treatment progress toward reaching patients' and analysts' stated analytic goals. He believes that it is quite common that analysts who have some conscious awareness of a problematic aspect of countertransference participation, or of a mutual enactment, nevertheless do nothing to change that participation and to use their awareness to move the therapy forward. Instead, analysts may prefer to maintain what has developed into perhaps a mutually comfortable equilibrium in the treatment, possibly rationalizing that the patient is not yet ready to deal with any potential disruption that a more active use of countertransference might precipitate.

This 'coasting' is emblematic of what Hirsch believes to be an ever present (and rarely addressed) conflict between analysts’ self-interest and pursuit of comfortable equilibrium, and what may be ideal for patients’ achievement of analytic aims. The acknowledgment of the power of analysts’ self-interest further highlights the contemporary view of a truly two-person psychology conception of psychoanalytic praxis. Analysts’ embrace of their selfish pursuit of comfortable equilibrium reflects both an acknowledgment of the analyst as a flawed other, and a potential willingness to abandon elements of self-interest for the greater good of the therapeutic project.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Physical City by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Muslims, Mongols and Crusaders by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Leading and Managing Indigenous Education in the Postcolonial World by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Democracies and Small Wars by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Cornerstones of Strong Schools by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Migration, Squatting and Radical Autonomy by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Russia in Resurrection by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Routledge Handbook of Military Ethics by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book The Life Writing of Otherness by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Communication in History by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Designing Sacred Spaces by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Critical Security Studies by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Folk Music of Britain - and Beyond by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Irwin Hirsch
Cover of the book Thought Experiments in Science, Philosophy, and the Arts by Irwin Hirsch
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy