The IEDTA International Conference in September, 2019

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Image from: iedta.net

Working in Kendall Park, New Jersey, John Rathauser, Ph.D. is a practicing psychologist and recognized speaker who has delivered psychological presentations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Active in his field, Dr. John Rathauser belongs to the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA), an international organization that promotes the development of experiential dynamic therapies.

The IEDTA recently hosted its 2019 International conference in Boston, MA, from September 26-28, 2020. The theme of the conference was ”New Frontiers in Experiential Dynamic Therapy." The conference offered various audio-visual presentations of an array of different models in brief dynamic psychotherapy. Numerous presenters from around the world offered moderator led presentations in a variety of therapeutic modalities along with pre and post-conference seminars. Many of these clinical models are predicated on the work of Habib Davanloo, MD, who for over 50 years has developed his unique model of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy that has served as the basis for many offshoots of his work.

What is Therapy Transference?

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Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

John Rathauser, PhD, has incorporated Davanloo's Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) into his individual and couples counseling sessions for nearly three decades.
Dr. John Rathauser is a well-known lecturer for ISTDP and has recently presented his research on transference in the therapeutic relationship at a professional seminar in Copenhagen, Denmark.

First identified by pioneer psychotherapist Sigmund Freud, transference refers to the phenomena of patients applying their feelings and expectations of another person in their life to the therapist. As a result of this, the patient may interact with the therapist as if they were the other person.

A therapist may be viewed as a parental figure, a spouse or potential partner, or a wise teacher. While transference occurs very frequently in human interactions, in the therapy setting, it can cause a patient to unconsciously resist help or assistance.

A highly trained counselor or therapist can recognize transference and gently bring the phenomena to the patient’s attention. By identifying and working through the feelings and life events associated with the transference, the patient can gain invaluable insight into their thinking patterns and use this information to resolve their issues.