The constant and polymorphous development of the field of psychoanalysis since its inception has led to the evolution of a wide variety of psychoanalytic 'schools'. In seeking to find common ground between them, Alberto Stefana examines the history of countertransference, a concept which has developed from its origins as an apparent obstacle, to become an essential tool for analysis, and which has undergone profound changes in definition and in clinical use.

Alberto Stefana is a psychotherapist in private practice in Brescia, Italy.

Foreword by Robert Hinshelwood. Introduction. The origins of the notion of countertransference. Freud and the psychoanalytic movement between the foundation of the IPA, the Great War and the turning point of 1920. The contribution of the early pioneers. The Second World War, the controversial discussions and the tripartite division of the British Psychoanalytic Society. The work of Melanie Klein and her influence on the development of the concept of countertransference. 1947-50: the watershed years. The contribution of the British school of object relations: first phase. The development of the concept of projective identification: a medium of communication. The contribution of the British school of object relations: second phase. Some non-conclusive considerations.