Countertransference and Regression

Charting the evolution of Dr Boyer’s thinking about treatment of the seriously disordered patient since the publication 15 years ago of The Regressed Patient , his landmark work on the subject, Countertransference and Regression has clinical importance along the theoretical trajectory from Klein and Bion to Ogden. The analyst often fantasizes reciprocally, Boyer maintains, during the patient’s reverie toward recovery of early psychological traumata. By tracking their fantasy experiences, the analyst can make metaphorical inferences that - when communicated as interpretations at the right time - enable the patient to mature, together with the patient’s introjection of the analyst’s supportive optimism.