idealizing transference

in self psychology, a narcissistic transference that, when activated in treatment, results in the patient experiencing the analyst or therapist as a powerful and benevolent parental figure. When engaged in this form of transference, the patient feels protected and able to share in the power and capabilities of the therapist, much as a young child idealizes his or her parents and feels protected by them. Compare mirror transference; twinship transference. [first described by Austrian-born U.S. psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut (1913–1981)]

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Psychology term of the day

December 23rd 2024

semipermeable membrane

a membrane that allows some but not all molecules to pass through. See also permeability.