The real relationship: Schemas, stereotypes, and personal history

A critique of the conventional view of "real" and transferential relationsh ips in psychotherapy is presented. Semantic labels for fuzzy sets contribut e to the confusion between what is experienced by therapists vis-ci-vis cli ents. That analogous countertransferential processes occur in therapy in bo th therapists and clients is proposed, and a line of argument is presented to support this position. A symmetrical model of client-therapist interacti ons is proposed that affirms that both client and therapist infuse biasing schemas into the therapeutic process. We conclude that the real relationshi p is the so-called transferential relationship, which springs from the pers onal histories of both therapist and client. This principle enables clinica l programs to prepare trainees to accommodate the inevitable dissonances th at will be experienced by disparate and cross-cultural participants in this field.