transference — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The act of conveying from one place to another; the act of transferring or the fact of being transferred.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   transferal

2. The process by which emotions and desires, originally associated with one person, such as a parent, are unconsciously shifted to another.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Furthermore, although probably few analysts still believe that transference occurs only in the context of the psychoanalytic situation, many hold that this phenomenon pertains only to object relationships. I submit, however, that the characteristic features of transference can be observed in other situations as well, especially in the area of learned skills.⁶ Thus, speaking a language with a foreign accent is one of the most striking everyday examples of transference. In the traditional concept of transference, one person (the analysand) behaves toward another (the analyst) as if the latter were someone else, previously familiar to him; and the subject is usually unaware of the actual manifestations of his own transferred behavior. In exactly the same way, persons who speak English (or any other language) with a foreign accent treat English as if it were their mother tongue; and they are usually unaware of the actual manifestations of their transferred behavior. […]

   Those who argue for laws against sex between therapists and clients say that consent is not a simple matter for the person who goes to another for help. They point in particular to the dynamic of "transference," during which a client may re-enact a parental relationship with the therapist.

Noun

1. (psychoanalysis) the process whereby emotions are passed on or displaced from one person to another; during psychoanalysis the displacement of feelings toward others (usually the parents) is onto the analyst

   Broader terms

   displacement

2. transferring ownership

   Synonyms

   transfer

   Broader terms

   transactiondealingdealings

3. the act of transferring something from one form to another

   Synonyms

   transfer

   Broader terms

   change of state

   Examples

   the transfer of the music from record to tape suppressed much of the background noise