7-14-12 RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE AND PROJECTION
Posted by Vincente E. Woodward on Saturday, July 14, 2012
First, a couple of housekeeping details.
I am heading up to Northern California in a couple of days.
Am expecting to meet with associate passing through on his way home from Hong Kong.
Hope to get an update for what is the feel on the ground over there at this time, and especially in light of the European currency debacle, now followed by the LIBOR scandal, right on top of it.
As if things aren't "dicey" enough already.
Am looking forward to hearing a first hand assessment from a long term, very trusted and reliable source.
Also, I did have several near catastrophes yesterday, but was saved from the worst by quick action on the part of my confederates.
This weird thing is still alive and well.
I have no good explanation as to why a certain date of the year should have any effect whatsoever.
Now, let's continue -
I should like to emphasize at this time that most of what Freud was doing was truly groundbreaking and has never been equalled or surpassed since.
He had to figure out, by use of clinical methodology, what was going on, at least in a crude form, and then had to name all of the "moving parts" which he could see, and then had to figure out what the interrelationships were between these various mental constructs.
He used a sort of experimental method by which he collected facts first and then theorized, only after having weighed ALL of the evidence.
Some of the most insightful of his observations were regarding
REPRESSION,
RESISTANCE
PROJECTION and
TRANSFERENCE.
Each of these subjects can easily fill it's own multi-volume treatise.
And they turn out to provide the key/s to solving many of the mysteries which one encounters when digging down deep into the well which is the human mind.
As one reads through Freud's case histories and various papers one will encounter the problem of TRANSFERENCE coming up again and again.
What he found happening repeatedly was that people would first transter their feelings of affection onto him.
These affects should more appropriately have been directed toward the object of the affection.
So what happens at first is that the patient turns the physician/therapist into a hero and begins to revel in a primitive form of hero worship.
While a "newbie" might enjoy this, Freud did not.
That is because he knew what was coming next.
As the areas of resistance are uncovered while efforts are made at bringing deep inner darkness out into the light of day so that one may deal with reality instead of all of those dark fantasies the patient begins to reformulate his/her ideals as regards the therapist.
He is now EVIL!
And the patient hates him.
And soon enough that patient will take all of the negative feelings which they have toward numerous other "objects", will concentrate them all together, and will now hate the therapist with a visceral and vitriolic hatred.
As one can imagine, this really gets in the way of the therapy.
I will attempt an illustration of the concepts involved.
I am in the hospital looking through the glass at a bunch of newborns which are looking back at me and laughing and smiling.
I begin to feel really good as I am laughing and carrying on as I suddenly notice you walking toward me.
As I turn toward you, all of the good feelings which I just had and which I still have now become associated with your presence.
By virtue of precise timing you have become the beneficiary of the good feelings of which you most definitely were not the object of.
In the case of the therapist/patient relationship:
The patient is reminded of some wonderful qualities in his or her mate or spouse and recalls the feeling associated with this as the patient now begins to "apply" this same feeling to the therapist.
Weirdly enough, there will be other emotions attached to or associated with the original primary emotions, which will effectively be attached to and dragged around with the primary emotion.
These also will transferred from the original and appropriate object of affection, onto the therapist, who is a most inappropriate object, especially given the immediate context.
There may be some level of "object attachment" associated with this, which will make it even harder when the therapist really "begins to get down to business" as the patient decides that the therapist is no longer friend and helper, but enemy and informant.
Following numerous clinical hours of experimental practice Freud came to the realization that this was going to be something he would be likely to encounter over and over again, as he often complained that he was.
Now where TRANSFERENCE can get really scary is in what is called "falling in love".
For here the love objects are very confused and confusing such that it is all too easy for a young girl or boy to confuse the object of the feelings they have for their dog or cat, and/or parent/s with their newfound companionship.
For, at the end of the day, it is the companionship which is at the core of any relationship.
This is why the expression "puppy love" is so apt.
Because the love which most children have for their little puppy dog has been transferred to another object than the one actually causing the emotional response (feelings) in the first place.
It can readily be seen just how fluid a situation this creates on an ongoing basis.
Feelings seem able to flow freely from one object to another with no actual basis for the various attachments in the world of factual cognitive reality.
Rather, they are, effectively, a series of fantasy constructs where reality has clearly been turned on it's head, it not tossed out altogether.
It is not difficult to see why such a person (read, all of us) would be so difficult to reason with.
During any deep therapist/patient encounter the patient is all too likely to find out just exactly how crazy love/hate can get, as he or she goes from hating the therapist to loving the therapist, to needing the therapist to never wanting to return to the therapist, all in the time it takes to inhale and exhale once.
That is a lot of states of mind all at once.
And they do not rotate or shut off.
Rather, they are all on at once continuously demanding attention, right now.
Not only is the person incredibly conflicted, but so is their body chemistry.
Imagine how you feel, physically sick, when you are really mad.
Imagine how you feel, all giddy, when you are really happy.
Now imagine rapidly jumping back and forth between these two chemical-induced states.
From sickness to giddy and back to sickness again and back to giddy and back to ---.
That can't be good for your body.
It is 7:55 a.m.
I must go.
Hope to return shortly.
w/love to all
vw
Ventura, California, USA
7-14-12
Saturday
note: the weather has been perfect this past week.
We read news of extreme weather all over the place while we bask in nearly perfect weather.
That seems to good to last.
I am heading up to Northern California in a couple of days.
Am expecting to meet with associate passing through on his way home from Hong Kong.
Hope to get an update for what is the feel on the ground over there at this time, and especially in light of the European currency debacle, now followed by the LIBOR scandal, right on top of it.
As if things aren't "dicey" enough already.
Am looking forward to hearing a first hand assessment from a long term, very trusted and reliable source.
Also, I did have several near catastrophes yesterday, but was saved from the worst by quick action on the part of my confederates.
This weird thing is still alive and well.
I have no good explanation as to why a certain date of the year should have any effect whatsoever.
Now, let's continue -
I should like to emphasize at this time that most of what Freud was doing was truly groundbreaking and has never been equalled or surpassed since.
He had to figure out, by use of clinical methodology, what was going on, at least in a crude form, and then had to name all of the "moving parts" which he could see, and then had to figure out what the interrelationships were between these various mental constructs.
He used a sort of experimental method by which he collected facts first and then theorized, only after having weighed ALL of the evidence.
Some of the most insightful of his observations were regarding
REPRESSION,
RESISTANCE
PROJECTION and
TRANSFERENCE.
Each of these subjects can easily fill it's own multi-volume treatise.
And they turn out to provide the key/s to solving many of the mysteries which one encounters when digging down deep into the well which is the human mind.
As one reads through Freud's case histories and various papers one will encounter the problem of TRANSFERENCE coming up again and again.
What he found happening repeatedly was that people would first transter their feelings of affection onto him.
These affects should more appropriately have been directed toward the object of the affection.
So what happens at first is that the patient turns the physician/therapist into a hero and begins to revel in a primitive form of hero worship.
While a "newbie" might enjoy this, Freud did not.
That is because he knew what was coming next.
As the areas of resistance are uncovered while efforts are made at bringing deep inner darkness out into the light of day so that one may deal with reality instead of all of those dark fantasies the patient begins to reformulate his/her ideals as regards the therapist.
He is now EVIL!
And the patient hates him.
And soon enough that patient will take all of the negative feelings which they have toward numerous other "objects", will concentrate them all together, and will now hate the therapist with a visceral and vitriolic hatred.
As one can imagine, this really gets in the way of the therapy.
I will attempt an illustration of the concepts involved.
I am in the hospital looking through the glass at a bunch of newborns which are looking back at me and laughing and smiling.
I begin to feel really good as I am laughing and carrying on as I suddenly notice you walking toward me.
As I turn toward you, all of the good feelings which I just had and which I still have now become associated with your presence.
By virtue of precise timing you have become the beneficiary of the good feelings of which you most definitely were not the object of.
In the case of the therapist/patient relationship:
The patient is reminded of some wonderful qualities in his or her mate or spouse and recalls the feeling associated with this as the patient now begins to "apply" this same feeling to the therapist.
Weirdly enough, there will be other emotions attached to or associated with the original primary emotions, which will effectively be attached to and dragged around with the primary emotion.
These also will transferred from the original and appropriate object of affection, onto the therapist, who is a most inappropriate object, especially given the immediate context.
There may be some level of "object attachment" associated with this, which will make it even harder when the therapist really "begins to get down to business" as the patient decides that the therapist is no longer friend and helper, but enemy and informant.
Following numerous clinical hours of experimental practice Freud came to the realization that this was going to be something he would be likely to encounter over and over again, as he often complained that he was.
Now where TRANSFERENCE can get really scary is in what is called "falling in love".
For here the love objects are very confused and confusing such that it is all too easy for a young girl or boy to confuse the object of the feelings they have for their dog or cat, and/or parent/s with their newfound companionship.
For, at the end of the day, it is the companionship which is at the core of any relationship.
This is why the expression "puppy love" is so apt.
Because the love which most children have for their little puppy dog has been transferred to another object than the one actually causing the emotional response (feelings) in the first place.
It can readily be seen just how fluid a situation this creates on an ongoing basis.
Feelings seem able to flow freely from one object to another with no actual basis for the various attachments in the world of factual cognitive reality.
Rather, they are, effectively, a series of fantasy constructs where reality has clearly been turned on it's head, it not tossed out altogether.
It is not difficult to see why such a person (read, all of us) would be so difficult to reason with.
During any deep therapist/patient encounter the patient is all too likely to find out just exactly how crazy love/hate can get, as he or she goes from hating the therapist to loving the therapist, to needing the therapist to never wanting to return to the therapist, all in the time it takes to inhale and exhale once.
That is a lot of states of mind all at once.
And they do not rotate or shut off.
Rather, they are all on at once continuously demanding attention, right now.
Not only is the person incredibly conflicted, but so is their body chemistry.
Imagine how you feel, physically sick, when you are really mad.
Imagine how you feel, all giddy, when you are really happy.
Now imagine rapidly jumping back and forth between these two chemical-induced states.
From sickness to giddy and back to sickness again and back to giddy and back to ---.
That can't be good for your body.
It is 7:55 a.m.
I must go.
Hope to return shortly.
w/love to all
vw
Ventura, California, USA
7-14-12
Saturday
note: the weather has been perfect this past week.
We read news of extreme weather all over the place while we bask in nearly perfect weather.
That seems to good to last.
