Transference and Narcissism

Abstract

Owing to the progress made in regard to the theory of psychoanalysis, its field of application has grown larger, and the author therefore proposes a re-formulation of the concept of transference (and counter-transference), which would have room for a greater variety of diagnostic categories and of transference phenomena, especially Kohut's narcistic transfers. This redefinition should include not only the reactivation of the libidinal (impulsive, incestuous, aggressive) investment of the oedipal stage, but also the pre-oedipal aspects of the equilibrium, of the narcistic evolution, i.e. of the level of structuration, of the cohesion and stability of the structural configurations, of the degree of separation between Ego and object. Such a re-definition would be useful not only in the treatment of pathological narcistic conditions but also in the treatment of psychoneuroses, where insufficient attention has so far been given to the implications of the narcistic equilibrium and evolution, and studies have too often been concerned exclusively with the transference and counter-transference of the oedipal stage.