Transferences of Deception

Abstract

Three characteristic transference configurations are identified that frequently emerge in the analyses of patients for whom deception and inauthenticity are central themes. These configurations are la beled (1) imposturous, (2) psychopathic-paranoid, and (3) psycho pathic-unreal. Patients who develop these transferences have actively split the object world along two distinct axes. The first split has occurred along the lines of pleasure and unpleasure. The second divides objects along the lines of the experience of reality, with some objects felt to be charged with exaggerated, painful meaning, and others felt to be devoid of meaning and affect. This split, which arises as a way of managing painful object relations, is then woven into fantasy and defense at many developmental levels. Material from the analyses of two patients is presented to demonstrate the interplay of the three transference configurations, the fantasies that underlie them, and the clinical importance of analyzing the second split

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abraham, K. , (1925). The history of an impostor in the light of psycho-analytical knowledge. In Clinical Papers and Essays on Psycho-Analysis. New York: Basic Books, 1955, pp. 291–305.

Auchincloss, E. & Weiss, R. (1992). Paranoid character and the intolerance of indifference. J. Amer. Psychoanal Assn., 40: 1013–1037.

Bergler, E. (1949). The Basic Neurosis. New York: Grune & Stratton.

Bion, W.R. (1962). Learning from Experience. London: Karnac.

Blum, H.P. (1981). Object inconstancy and paranoid conspiracy. J. Amer. Psychoanal Assn., 29: 789–813.

Deutsch, H. (1942). Some forms of emotional disturbance and their relationship to schizophrenia (as if). In Neuroses and Character Types. New York: Int. Univ. Press, 1965, pp. 262–281.

Deutsch, H. (1955). The impostor: contribution to ego psychology of a type of psychopath. In Neuroses and Character Types. New York: Int. Univ. Press, 1965, pp. 319–338.

Elkisch, P. & Mahler, M.S. (1959). On infantile precursors of the “influencing machine” (Tausk). Psychoanal Study Child, 14: 219–235.

Fenichel, O. (1939). The economics of pseudologica phantastica. In The Collected Papers of Otto Fenichel Second Series. New York: Norton, 1954, pp. 128–140.

10.

Finkelstein, L. (1974). The impostor: aspects of his development. Psychoanal Q., 43: 85–114.

11.

Freud, S. (1940). Splitting of the ego in the process of defence. S.E., 23: 275–278.

12.

Gediman, H.K. (1985). Imposture, inauthenticity, and feeling fraudulent. J. Amer. Psychoanal Assn., 33: 911–935.

13.

Greenacre, P. (1958). The impostor. In Emotional Growth. Vol. 1. New York: Int. Univ. Press, 1971, pp. 93–112.

14.

Jacobson, E. (1964). The Self and the Object World. New York: Int. Univ. Press.

15.

Katan, M. (1958). Contribution to the panel on ego distortion (“as-if and ”pseudo as-if”). Int. J. Psychoanal, 39: 265–270.

16.

Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism. New York: Aronson.

17.

Kernberg, O. (1984). Severe Personality Disorders. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.

18.

Kernberg, O. (1992). Psychopathic, paranoid and depressive transferences. Int. J. Psychoanal 73: 13–28.

19.

Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. In Envy and Gratitude and Other Works, 1946–1963. London: Hogarth Press, 1975, pp. 1–24.

20.

Kohut, H. (1971). The Analysis of the Self. New York: Int. Univ. Press.

21.

Kohut, H. (1977). The Restoration of the Self. New York: Int. Univ. Press.

22.

Lichtenstein, H. (1961). Identity and sexuality: a study of their interrelationship in man. J. Amer. Psychoanal Assn., 9: 179–260.

23.

Lichtenstein, H. (1964). The role of narcissism in the emergence and maintenance of a primary identity. Int. J. Psychoanal., 45: 49–56.

24.

Meltzer, D. (1975). Explorations in Autism. Perthshire: Clunie Press.

25.

Olden, C. (1958). Notes on the development of empathy. Psychoanal Study Child, 13: 505–518.

26.

Rosenfeld, H. (1964). On the psychopathology of narcissism: a clinical approach. In Psychotic States. London: Hogarth Press, 1965, pp. 169–179.

27.

Searles, H. (1960). The Nonhuman Environment. New York: Int. Univ. Press.

28.

Singer, M. (1988). Fantasy or structural defect? The borderline dilemma as viewed from analysis of an experience of nonhumanness. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 36: 31–59.

29.

Tausk, V. (1919). On the origin of the “influencing machine” in schizophrenia. In The Psychoanalytic Reader, ed. R. Fliess . New York: Int. Univ. Press, 1948, pp. 52–85.

30.

Tustin, F. (1986) Autistic Barriers in Neurotic Patients. London: Karnac.

31.

Weinshel, E. (1979). Some observations on not telling the truth. J. Amer. Psychoanal Assn., 27: 503–531.