Child Transference Case Study

The dream-the fantasy of the rescuer and the rescued; many times the rescue is rescued by a person who wants to rescue themselves. When working with a 9 year old girl who was adopted after being placed in several foster homes- she struggled with being grateful for the rescue. Underneath the lure of the rescue fantasy is a lot of trouble. The adopted mother had a lot of anger within herself about not having any biological children and deep resentment for ‘Sury’ not being internally grateful. The rescue fantasy for the child who was born to save a parents relationship, parents will many times solidify by thinking to have another child will save. Many parents try to rescue their unresolved childhood dreams and conflicts by expecting their child

Positive and negative transference can benefit therapy in different ways. Generally in the case of transference an individual is not seeking to establish a relationship with a real person but with someone onto whom they have projected feelings and emotions. The client might mistrust us because of the transferred feelings of somebody in their life who harmed them or earned their mistrust, without those feelings even being conscious. This to works both ways, they might respect us because of the transferred feelings of somebody they loved and trusted. In my work as a SEIT provider, I’m currently working with Malky a bright sweet 5 year old girl whose mother suffers with from a mental illness. ‘Malky’ fears disapproval and rejection- I notice she finds herself worried about judgment or criticism from adults. We worked through exploring these feelings and reactions in the immediacy of the relationship through play. Initially she viewed me as suspicious and mistrusting, I saw this as her transference of feelings from her home and she might not have even been aware of. Once a level of trust has been developed and created an environment in which she was able to feel safe and understood through play she displayed her fears, hopes and needs. Since relationships are at the center, I feel the person- therapist alliance is important to the success of therapy. In the absence of a secure, trusting relationship