What is the term for the phenomenon in which a patient directs feelings for significant people onto the therapist?

• A. Projection
• B. Countertransference
• C. Transference
• D. Displacement

Answer: (C)

Transference is when a patient unconsciously directs feelings and attitudes from important people in their life onto the therapist. In practice, the therapist becomes a stand-in for figures like a parent or caregiver, so reactions such as affection, anger, dependence, or fear arise as if the therapist were that other person. This offers a window into unresolved past relationships and helps the therapist explore patterns that are shaping the patient’s current behavior. It differs from projection, which is about attributing one’s own unwanted thoughts to others, and from displacement, which is redirecting emotions from the original target to a different one. Countertransference refers to the therapist’s own emotional reactions to the patient, not the patient’s directing of feelings at the therapist.