Transcript Transference in Groups.ppt

Transference
In Groups
Transference in Groups
Allows group leader and members to get a glimpse into their past that
manifests in the present
Seeing this… group members transference reactions are understood
as being relationship “killers”
Transference usually crystallizes around some realistic element of the
group leader and group members personality and actions
Often the group member who is experiencing transference has
perceptions that are distorted
Transference / Countransference
Critical to client change
Therapist countertransference critical to client change and
understanding clients emotions, internal world… if handled
therapeutically
Countertransference can be ticket to therapist growth
Why Transference?
And Possibilities in Group
First and foremost for “addicted suffers” transference reactions arise because of the “idea” that people can’t
be trusted
The world is untrustworthy (addicted suffers continue to choose friends and others that they belief they can
trust) but these folks “usually” are not emotionally healthy
A great deal of early transference distortions can be ameliorated through use of transparency, gratification
and self-disclosure
Other distortions are related to character defects that become central to the group process and the stage of
where the group finds itself in relation to time
Underneath Common Transference Distortions
Payoff, don’t have to get too close to someone, stay merged with an unhealthy “parental imago”
Usually group members will have an underlying fear of not measuring up, profound fear of being
“found out” to be inadequate
Essentially group members do not know that they are under the influence of transference
Essentially, change is impossible without members becoming aware of their transference distortions
3 Types of Transference Possibilities
Leader transference
Distortion potentially reflects issues of child/parent conflict 3 to 6 years of age
Leader is viewed as an authoritarian, withholding, cold parent, group member might
show outright defiance or other group members maybe too protective and dependent
on the leader
Peer Transference
Group members transference between themselves, distortions may centralize
around jealousy, envy, and cooperation
May reflect unresolved sibling rivalry, members typically remind each other as
brother, sister, husband, wive, lover
Group as Whole
How group views the group and its leader as a whole, good/bad mother father
If bad - stir up primitive feelings (e.g., rage and anger)
Good parent, distortion centred around engulfment or dependency, members
become to compliant or group does not provide enough anxiety to grow
Modifying Transference Distortions:
Vis a Vis Interpretation
Identification of group members behavior that they are not aware of
Timing and accuracy is key, triggers deeper associations and deeper
feelings, but may also invoke strong negative feelings
More times than not, accurate interpretation exposes narcissistic defenses,
and will not be applauded by group member, however necessary to growth
and change
Consensual Validation
Most effective way to modify and heal transference when the group reports
“as a consensus” on behavior they are seeing in an individual
Essentially members compare their perceptions to those of the group
members
Transparency
This modification focuses on the transparency of the group leader(s)
Simply self-disclosure
An open life, showing fallibility
Types of Transference
Displaced transference (most likely to manifest): displacing source of current feelings
I am angry with my father - may mean “I am angry with the group leader”; thus historical FOO is projected into present (coupled with a defence, anxiety, and a desire to share)
Group member displaces transference, as opposed to risk projected emotion onto the therapist
Malan’s Triangle of Conflict
Work through the defence, bringing the hidden feeling/impulse into awareness, making clear how these have
impacted the relationship of the group member with others in the present, with his parents in the past
Acting Out Transference
ACTING OUT BORN FROM GROUP MEMBERS EITHER DOING TO THE
GROUP LEADER WHAT THEY WISH WOULD BE DONE TO THEM, OR
WHAT THEY FEAR MAY WILL HAPPEN TO THEM
ATTACK OR BE AFFECTIONATE
ACTING OUT IS CONSIDERED TRANSFERENCE IF IT IS IN RESPONsE TO
CERTAIN DEFINITE PERSON(S)
COMMON ACTING OUT TYPES
IDEALIZING TRANSFERENCE: ORIGINATES IN THE NEED FOR SMALL CHILD TO HAVE SECURE
RELATIONSHIP WITH STRONG PARENT TO FEEL SECURE AND SAFE
PARENT IS IDEALIZED TO BE MORE THAN THEY ARE: IF the person grew UP IN AN
ENVIRONMENT WHERE THIS DID NOT OCCUR, ADDICTED SUFFERERS MAY CONSTANTLY
SEARCH FOR THIS THROUGHOUT ADULTHOOD
SEEK STRONG LEADERS, JUST CAUSES, OR ADOPT RIGID BELIEF SYSTEMS TO FEEL SECURE
THESE FOLK MAY IDEALIZE THERAPIST, HARD FOR THESE CLIENTS TO SEE THERAPIST AS
HUMAN
MIRROR HUNGRY TRANSFERENCE
BORN FROM A CHILDHOOD WHERE THE DEVELOPING SELF IS NOT GIVEN
UNCONDITIONAL ADMIRATION AND RECOGNITION, MAY SEEK THIS
CONFIRMATION CONSTANTLY IN THEIR ADULT LIVES
THESE INDIVIDUALS WILL REQUIRE A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER WHO
WILL BE AN AGREEING AND REFLECTING MIRROR
IN GROUP THEY WILL SEEK A POSITIVE MIRROR TRANSFERENCE WITH
LEADER AND IF THEY DON’T GET IT THEY WILL FEEL EMPTY AND DEPLETED
INSIDE (BUT SMILE GLEAMINGLY) NEVERTHELESS
MERGER TRANSFERENCE
UNCONSCIOUSLY EXPECT EVERYONE TO THINK AND ACT AS THEY DO
REFUSAL TO SEE OTHERS IN GROUP AS DIFFERENT “I LIKE EVERYONE IN GROUP
EQUALLY”, PERSONS HAVE A HARD TIME CHALLENGING
“I THINK WHAT SHE OR HE SAID”…, “I FEEL LIKE…, UM WHAT KAREN FEELS”
THE AIM HERE IS TO HELP THE INDIVIDUAL INDIVIDUATE AND NOT SEE
SEPARATION AS THREATENING
Repetition Compulsion
Phenomenon of transference most likely to occur
Group members will attempt to complete their (past) (e.g., complete what was not done) or what was left
uncompleted from their past
Marry an alcoholic after growing up in alcoholic home
Difficulties from the past will be repeated in the here and now of the group process (e.g., difficulties with
anger, conflict growing up >> difficulty with anger in group; taken advantage from others in the past will
most likely feel or be taken advantage of in group in the present)
Countertransference
Countertransference:
An Object Relations Perspective
In the past countertransference was deemed as a “therapist failure” resulting in an expectation to
return to analysis
Simply seen as bad or taboo
But modern analysts see countertransference as necessary to the healing process
Thus countertransference is all the conscious/unconscious feelings and thoughts a client
triggers in the therapist
What are we do about Countertransference?
According to object relation schools of thought, the group therapist’s stimulated thoughts and
inner feelings induced by the group member(s) should be used by the therapist to formulate a
hypothesis about the client’s feelings and unconscious contents
But before we can use countertransference as a therapeutic tool… the group therapist must
examine his / her reactions
Is the reaction narcissistic on part of therapist and thus negative? Am I feeling too much
hate, too much love, too much attraction, too much fear? (this is termed subjective
transference: reactions which are tied to the therapist’s past)
Objective Transference:
Two Types
First type relates to the clients projections onto the therapist which stand in “direct” contrast to
how the therapist actually conducts him or herself
Triggered by harsh or critical comments made by group member(s), the therapist reacts just
as harshly toward the group and its members or radically shifts to the other pole
(compensating) becoming too gratifying or co-dependent to the group members
2nd type: group therapist uses group members communication (not so much as projections);
seen as communicating a need or feeling, which if tended to, give rise to increased trust,
group cohesion, and ultimately healing (let’s chat about pg. 636).
Closing thoughts about countertransference, the therapist, and client change
The group therapist must take the stance of “heal thyself” and continue to work
on themselves and regularly examine their countertransference
reactions/distortions
We as therapists also need to be “keenly” aware of how we think “we need” to
be treated by our clients (liked, admired, needed)
Essentially we watch our narcissistic vulnerabilities
“An intimate word about transference”
The intertwining of transference and the real
relationship, past and present, and you and me is
often unclear, even to the most skilled therapist…
Conclusions
Without an accurate awareness of possible countertransference responses…
Therapists will find the clinical
management of the addicted sufferer to
be virtually impossible
Thus folks…
Do your healing, allow in
vulnerability, and work toward
developing a spaciousness that the
egoic self can float in… The
alternative… We drown!