APA Dictionary of Psychology

in psychoanalysis, a form of countertransference in which the analyst identifies with a significant object (person) in the patient’s life and experiences the affects that the object would have in relation to the patient. For instance, the patient might project feelings of parental neglect onto the analyst and imply that the analyst is ignoring them. This induces feelings of guilt in the analyst, who feels like the rejecting, neglectful parent. Also called complementary countertransference. Compare concordant identification. [introduced by Polish-born Argentinian psychoanalyst Heinrich Racker (1910–1961)]