In psychoanalytic therapy, when the client shows feelings of hostility, anger and resentment toward his/her therapist during the therapeutic process, it is known as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Negative transference
In psychoanalytic therapy the client starts identifying the therapist with authority figures of the past, usually of childhood, and expresses towards the therapist the feelings once held towards those people. This is transference.
Option (1) Transference neurosis — Incorrect. Transference neurosis is the stage at which the therapist becomes a substitute for that person from the past, and the client acts out her/his frustrations, anger, fear and depression. It names the stage of the process, not the hostile kind of transference the question describes.
Option (2) Resistance — Incorrect. Resistance means the client opposes the progress of therapy to protect herself/himself from recalling painful unconscious memories, for example by keeping silent, missing appointments or coming late. It is directed against the therapy, not a feeling of hostility towards the therapist.
Option (3) Positive transference — Incorrect. In positive transference the client idolises or falls in love with the therapist and seeks the therapist’s approval, the opposite of hostility.
Option (4) Negative transference — Correct. Negative transference is present when the client has feelings of hostility, anger and resentment towards the therapist, the very feelings the question names.
Note: Transference, with its positive and negative forms, is not there in the 2023-24 NCERT, which NTA followed in 2025, nor in the NCERT book (2025-26). It was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, and hence this question has been picked from the pre-rationalised NCERT. Transference left the new book, but it still turned up in the exam hall; the older book’s two pages on it are a short, rewarding read.
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Modality of Treatment … Transference and Interpretation are the means of treating the patient. As the unconscious forces are brought into the conscious realm through free association and dream interpretation described above, the client starts identifying the therapist with the authority figures of the past, usually childhood. The therapist may be seen as the punitive father, or as the negligent mother. The therapist maintains a non-judgmental yet permissive attitude and allows the client to continue with this process of emotional identification. This is the process of transference. The therapist encourages this process because it helps her/him in understanding the unconscious conflicts of the client. The client acts out her/his frustrations, anger, fear, and depression that s/he harboured towards that person in the past, but could not express at that time. The therapist becomes a substitute for that person in the present. This stage is called transference neurosis. A full-blown transference neurosis is helpful in making the therapist aware of the nature of intrapsychic conflicts suffered by the client. There is the positive transference in which the client idolises, or falls in love with the therapist, and seeks the therapist’s approval. Negative transference is present when the client has feelings of hostility, anger, and resentment towards the therapist. The process of transference is met with resistance. Since the process of transference exposes the unconscious wishes and conflicts, thereby increasing the distress levels, the client resists transference. Due to resistance, the client opposes the progress of therapy in order to protect herself/himself from the recall of painful unconscious memories.…” |