Transference patterns in the therapeutic relationship in supportive-expressive psychotherapy for depression

The construct of transference has been central to theories of dynamic psych otherapy. This investigation evaluated the similarity between patients' int erpersonal themes, derived from pretreatment interpersonal interviews, and the theme evident in psychotherapy narratives about the therapist for 18 pa tients treated in supportive-expressive psychotherapy for major depression. This investigation was designed to sort out the potential confound of the therapist's influence on the report of interpersonal themes and to explore how transference might vary over the course of therapy. The results indicat ed that 33% of patients demonstrated a significant relation between the mos t pervasive theme evident from the pretreatment narratives and the narrativ es about the therapist. These results remained consistent when early and la te session therapist narratives were evaluated separately. Further, patient s rated with higher quality of interpersonal relationships and lower sympto ms prior to treatment demonstrated greater similarity between their pretrea tment interpersonal themes and the theme described in the therapeutic relat ionship.