The author attempts to demonstrate that the usual manner of reporting
countertransference experiences does not do justice to the complexity
of these phenomena. Clinical illustrations are used to show that the d
ata of countertransferences are partial, often difficult to use immedi
ately in analyses, sometimes ambiguous, and hard to validate. The fate
of persistent conflictual residues within each analyst is discussed i
n the context of the life cycle of psychoanalytic work.