Transference and Counter-Transference: from pitfalls to efficacy in therapy

A one-day seminar with Jan McGregor Hepburn

London, 28 October 2016 (Friday)

As therapists, we understand that the redirection of our client’s emotions towards us can be manifest in a myriad of ways including rage, mistrust, parentification, overt dependence and attraction. We recognise that such transference lends malleability to our therapeutic relationship and its misinterpretation can impede therapeutic progress. However, when skilfully guided, the same dynamics of transference and countertransference can allow us valuable insights as therapists and enable us to deliver extremely effective therapeutic interventions.

At this practical and therapeutically oriented seminar, which would be particularly relevant for psychotherapists, clinical & educational psychologists, counsellors and psychiatrists, Jan McGregor Hepburn draws on her longstanding experience in social work management and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy to clearly illustrate both theoretical underpinnings of transference and countertransference and their practical linkages to clinical work. She explains how we can miss certain interpretations which might lead to poor clinical outcomes and utilises case vignettes to illustrate how the dynamics of transference / countertransference can be creative tools in the therapist’s hands.

About the speaker

Jan McGregor Hepburn has been the Registrar of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) since 2005 and has a background in social work management and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. She is a trainer for the North of England Association for Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. She is the author of a number of journal articles and regularly speaks at national and international conferences. She is on the Reading Panel of the British Journal of Psychotherapy and is currently conducting doctoral research in Infant Observation at the University of Northumbria.               

Seminar Schedule

9:45AM: Registration

10:00AM: Session 1: A Psychoanalytic understanding of transference and countertransference - from Freud to current thinking

In this first session we look at the psychoanalytical underpinnings of transference and countertransference. We evaluate how the concepts have developed over time and look at learnings from recent empirical evidence.

10:45AM: Session 2: Working with transference and countertransference

We build on our theoretical understanding from Session 1 and consider situations in which Transference & Countertransference can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. We look at the pitfalls to therapeutic work and how we can avoid these as therapists.

11:30AM: Coffee Break

11:45AM: Session 3: Applications to Therapeutic Work

The session consolidates our learnings from the previous sessions and we look at practical clinical vignettes that illustrate effective therapeutic interventions, informed by a deeper comprehension of transference / countertransference dynamics.

1:00PM: Lunch Break (a light lunch is provided as part of the seminar)

2:00PM: Session 4: Video Vignette

We further build our understanding of efficacy in therapeutic interactions by looking at a video vignette that examines practical transference / countertransference challenges.

3:15PM: Coffee Break

3:30PM: Session 4: Plenary

Attendees will be invited to share their own clinical experiences and discuss any issues outstanding from the day’s sessions.

4:00PM: Close

© nscience UK