The truth of the transference Reliving infantile experience in the transference: comparing data from an observed infant and the later psychotherapy of the same infant as a young child1

Abstract

This paper documents a unique opportunity that allowed the authors to compare the relationship between an infant's early feeding experience and later material from a clinical case when the same infant had become a young child aged five and a half in treatment. The authors focus on correlations between the child's difficult weaning experience, as captured in the observation, and certain strong transference themes that emerged in his psychotherapy. They draw the conclusion that these correlations provide proof that the origins of the transference lay in specific infantile conflicts and dynamics, and that in this regard the descriptive data generated by Infant Observation can show strong predictive validity. They argue that this comparative example demonstrates that, history-taking notwithstanding, transference is the principle and most reliable means of corroborating the truth of a patient's infantile experience.