Transference is a phenomenon that occurs within the therapeutic relationship in which a client transfers feelings about an important person from his or her life onto the therapist. It serves as an unconscious attempt to reenact or repeat unresolved conflicts within the context of the therapeutic relationship. Often, similarities are seen between the therapist and a significant person from the client’s past. This may be as subtle as the way in which the therapist holds his or her head or as obvious as a similar appearance. These similarities can cause the client to place the therapist in this past persona and make assumptions or attributions using this similar past relationship as a template. The unconscious hope of the client is to affect the outcome, although ...

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