Analysis Association. Reprinted with the permission of the ITAA and Tony White. Psychotherapy and the Art of Being Human

This article is the third in a series on symbiosis and transference (see White, 1996, 1998). It examines the basic underpinnings of relationship-based psychotherapy, in which two people meet in a specific setting with specific "rules " about how they are permitted to relate. The Importance of Transference This article follows on a previous one (White, 1998) that examined transference, especially how attachment is established and how transactional symbiosis can be discouraged. The investigation of these processes, along with clinical observation and a considerable body of evidence cited in the literature, demonstrates the usefulness of transference in the psychotherapy setting and the importance of the therapeutic relationship to successful therapy outcome. In her eloquent summary, Clarkson (1992) cited many sources that reported on the importance of the therapeutic relationship, including Yalom: "It is the relationship that heals. Every therapist observes over and over in clinical work that the encounter itself is healing for the patient in a way that transcends the therapist's theoretical orientation " (Yalom, cited i