On couple countertransference: thoughts about the therapist’s experience in psychoanalytic work with couples

Abstract

Couple countertransference, the therapist’s experience in psychoanalytic work with couples, is explored. Its close connection with the concept of a couple’s shared unconscious phantasy is elaborated. Couple countertransference is seen to include therapist experiences such as feelings, thoughts, conscious images, dreams, associations, and bodily sensations, accompanied by a feeling of pressure to react. These derivatives (feelings, thoughts etc.) are shaped by the impact on the therapist of the couple’s split off and projected aspects of their shared inner world. If sufficiently processed couple countertransference leads to a conjecture about a shared unconscious phantasy of the couple regarding the nature of relating. Corroboration of this phantasy can then add shape to the therapist’s interpretations. A detailed case example illustrates the gathering and processing of couple countertransference, leading to a conjectured shared unconscious phantasy. In describing the process of corroborating this conjectured phantasy, attention is also paid to the therapist’s thoughts about how to respond, called response proclivities.