Sigmund Freud was named the Father of Psychoanalysis. . .

He coined a term known as transference and its counterpart. This principle of thought and behavior is common to the psycho dynamics of basic human relationships and encounters and can be either a positive or a negative phenomenon. Transference and counter-transference have both diagnostic and therapeutic significance in certain forms of psychotherapy.

Insight oriented psychotherapy, for example, is highly dependent upon these processes. Transference refers to the transfer of emotions and attitudes about significant figures from ones past onto another figure in the present moment. The two figures may be totally unrelated to each other. A useful example in therapy would be a young woman subject relating to her older male therapist in the same manner she would her father who happens to be similar in age and appearance. She may have been abused or neglected by her father as a child. If so, she may develop prominent symptoms of anxiety related behaviors when she interacts with her therapist. This is a negative transference. Over time and repeated sessions the therapist can travel with her back in time to the point that she was first emotionally traumatized. Eventually, he will be able to help her make associations between current emotional symptoms and certain past events. Gradually she will develop an understanding of why certain symptoms have developed and why certain undesired behaviors exist. If the motivation to change the behavior exists, over time the negative behavior can be re-programmed to a more desirable behavior. Effective therapy is actually curative and results in personal growth and eradication of symptoms. Insight oriented therapy is not appropriate for every patient because some patients lack the potential for insight. A behaviorally related form of therapy or cognitive based therapy may be more appropriate for some patients. Some patients may only be able to benefit from therapy based on emotional support.

An interesting yet sometimes frightening form of transference (for the therapist) is known as erotic transference. When this occurs the patient develops overwhelming romantic feelings for the therapist. Firm boundaries are crucial here in order to assure that the patient is actually helped and not emotionally damaged. Even seasoned and experienced therapists sometimes require clinical supervision when attempting to proceed with cases involving this form of transference reaction. The ultimate goal is to help the patient develop an understanding of what the feelings and emotions really represent. In successful intervention the patient eventually understands that the feelings aren't love necessarily and aren't about the therapist at all but are related to someone from the past that the therapist reminds his or her unconscious mind of. This process is usually  most clinically beneficial if the therapist and client have a strong clinical alliance. When this is present the client/patient is more likely to not resist allowing the therapeutic process to flow. The therapy sessions are in essence a form of laboratory exploratory experiment. Again, this form of therapy is useful only in appropriate patients.

Counter-transference involves the emotions activated within the therapist through interacting with the subject. To be an effective therapist one must learn to interpret and know when and when not to respond to counter-transference feelings. These feelings are often intuitively based and greatly help to make or confirm the diagnosis. In certain conditions such as severe personality disorders the counter-transference experienced can be very unpleasant. Certain patients can make the therapist feel and occasionally behave in ways uncharacteristic of themselves. At my worst I may find myself tempted to yell and throw a patient out of the office. It takes a lot to get me to that point, but on occasion I realize that I am human and it happens. I always feel badly afterward. Retrospectively, I usually realize that the particular patient is usually quite accustomed to being treated as such by others. With experience you learn that such people feel in control by causing others to feel out of control. They manipulate their environment in this way. You really feel foolish when you replay the scene in your mind seeing again the look of bewildered amusement on the patient's face. At that time you know exactly what they were thinking about you. "What the hell is wrong with this fool?" Most psychiatrists would probably never admit to this happening to them before but I don't think it can be avoided completely if enough personality disorders are seen.

In conclusion, one doesn't have to be a psychotherapist to observe and benefit from the process of transference/counter-transference. It occurs all the time everyday in most forms of interaction with others. A laymans term to describe counter-transference is the well known "gut feeling." 99.9% of the time that gut feeling is right on target. People who function well on an intuitive level learn to use these gut feelings to their benefit. Those gifted with psychic potential really just are able to contact a heightened sense of awareness. They aren't really creating anything but are just able to access certain information. Psychic John Edward and others believe that we all have this potential, to a degree, to access certain information known by most as psychic. Many are greatly skeptical in regards to psychics. Some law enforcement officials have witnessed cases solved by psychics when all else has failed. I have learned to keep an open mind and remember that we are only aware of one part of one billion parts of reality. There is much more that we do not know than that which we are aware of. Most of us don't know precisely how this computer and Internet are working right now, yet it exists.