This communication focuses on the relation of countertransference to psychoanalytic technique, calling attention not to the more obvious forms of countertransference that have been commented on by previous writers on the subject, but to its subtler ones. Often well camouflaged within the framework of traditional, time-tested techniques, this aspect of countertransference may attach itself to our way of listening and thinking about patients, to our efforts at interpretation, to the process of working through, or to the complex issue of termination. Less recognizable than its more boisterous counterpart and in some respects less tangible, this side of the problem of countertransference is no less important. For it is precisely those subtle, often scarcely visible countertransference reactions, so easily rationalized as parts of our standard operating procedures and so easily overlooked, that may in the end have the greatest impact on our analytic work.
The question of self-disclosure by the analyst and its uses in treatment is an issue widely debated today. In this paper, the author reviews this controversial technique from historical and contemporary points of view, delineates several forms of self-disclosure, and, by means of several clinical examples, discusses the effects on the patient and the analytic process of utilizing one or another kind of self-disclosure in these particular situations.
Over a two-year period the families of twenty-five children with cancer and of a comparison group of children brought to a general pediatric clinic were studied by means of the Holmes-Rahe Life Schedule of Recent Events and by personal interviews. Results obtained by use of the Holmes-Rahe questionnaire revealed significant differences between the patient and control groups. Histories obtained from families in both groups also revealed that in the cancer group certain important life events were found to have occurred with greater frequency in the year prior to the onset of the disease. The relevance of these findings to previous work done in the field and to some current theories concerning the relationship of genetic, viral, endocrine, and psychological factors in the development of cancer are discussed.
Effects of a brief orientation of lower‐class patients to the initial psychiatric interview, and a similar preparation of psychiatric residents, were compared to control patients and residents not differentially prepared. Findings relating to disposition and outcome support the authors' contention that reduction of social distance has salutary effects in making psychotherapy more accessible to disadvantaged patients. Significance of these findings for operation of a walk‐in clinic serving a lower‐class population are discussed.
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