O amor e o ódio na contratransferência: considerações sobre o lugar do analista em casos de difícil acesso

Abstract

Countertransference, the nature of the feelings experienced by the analyst towards his or her analysand, is a complex theme. In difficult and labor-intensive cases, such as is the object of this thesis, countertransference proves to be not just an important ally, but also a considerable challenge. The pain endured by the patient needs the analyst s continence in order to be transformed into suffering and into word. Being with the analysand who is the object of this study meant being in constant contact with emotional turbulence. The transference experienced on a very primitive level turns into a challenge for the analyst. The atmosphere of the sessions takes on an anguishing pre-verbal character. Countertransference, through its pathic dimension, that is, the suffering to which the analyst is subjected, imposed by the nature of the feelings brought by the patient, is intensified by ambivalent feelings. Due to the need to elaborate on such feelings, a certain kind of repression, whose aim is to maintain the analytical setting and put the feelings at the service of the analysis, may contribute to turning them into an important work tool in the analytical situation. The hypothesis I intend to develop is that countertransference, in such cases, may also constitute a differential diagnostic tool