Transferential-countertransferential configuration and optimal responsivity in the elaboration of trauma in older adults, an approach

Abstract

Training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a transformative experience on an intellectual and emotional level, In this sense, it is part of the social commitment of the psychoanalytic psychotherapist to recognize and care for populations that do not form the general range of cases in treatment, such as the elderly. The following article is based on a case study of an elderly woman that represents an approach to the investigation of the transference-countertransference configuration based on the relational positions identified by Davies and Frawley (1994), as well as the use of the technique of optimal responsiveness enunciated by Howard Bacal (2017), who was linked to said configuration for the care of the effects of trauma. After the random selection of work sessions with the patient, a qualitative analysis was carried out based on indicators and sub-indicators of the aforementioned configuration, as well as trauma and its effects.