Transference and Countertransference in the Group's Response to the Therapist's Pregnancy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact of the therapist's pregnancy on the functioning and dynamics of a hospital-based therapy group. This impact is conceptualized in terms of transference, countertransference and group boundaries. Each member of the group related the experience of the therapist's pregnancy to his or her own family situation, particularly the early infant-mother dyad. Sexual images proved extremely powerful not only in relation to fantasies about the primal scene but also to the members' current sexual identities. Different aspects of this were expressed by the male and female members of the group. After initial elaboration and working through they began to consider that the pregnancy could become a metaphor for personal change, psychic birth and rebirth.