Treating Patients Who Are Parents: the Good Grandparent Transference and Countertransference

Abstract

Psychoanalysis has paid scant attention to the role of grandparenthood, especially as it may appear in treatment. Clinical material is presented to illustrate the transference-countertransference phenomenon of what will be called the good grandparent; this is not an uncommon occurrence in the treatment of patients who are parents. But while the occurrence of a grandparent transference may occur with some frequency, it is not always recognized as such. When patients require support, mirroring, and general encouragement for their parenting skills, they may be demonstrating a legitimate need that should not be rejected out of hand by the analyst. At the same time, such an apparently benign process may mask negative feelings and fantasies to which we must remain alert.