Bridging concepts of aggression, affect, and attitude, hate emerges du
ring the process of separation-individuation concurrent with ego devel
opment and persisting intrapsychic conflict and fantasy. Rage precedes
hate developmentally, though later the two are amalgamated both devel
opmentally and clinically. Hate is the negative pole of ambivalence an
d is a component of all self- and object representations and object re
lationships. When excessive and unmodulated, hate interferes with obje
ct relations and personality development. Paradoxically, hate may also
subserve adaptation and personality organization. Transference hate i
s often a greater problem for the psychoanalyst or psychotherapist tha
n is transference love. Transference hate threatens the analyst's narc
issism and neutrality and tests the analyst's tolerance and patience.
The patient's intense hate is often experienced as a direct assault on
the analytic relationship and the analytic process. Countertransferen
ce hate and the need to defend against it are of great clinical import
ance. Because it runs counter to analytic ideals and values, the analy
st's hatred of the patient may be denied, minimized, rationalized, ena
cted, or vicariously gratified and may occasion great resistance to an
alytic self-scrutiny. Countertransference hate is often an unrecognize
d determinant in cases of analytic and therapeutic impasse. A classic
contribution by D.W. Winnicott to the recognition and elucidation of c
ountertransference hate is reevaluated.