Kentucky Licensed Clinical Alcohol And Drug Counselors (LCADC) Practice Test

Transference involves the unconscious shifting of feelings, fantasies, and expectations from significant people in a person’s life onto the therapist. In therapy, the client may react to the clinician as if they were someone important—like a parent or partner—so emotions such as love, anger, or dependence are aimed at the therapist rather than at a real-time, present relationship. This automatic process reveals unresolved patterns from past relationships and can be explored to understand current behavior and shape treatment, rather than being something the client consciously intends to do. It’s not about deliberately transferring responsibility, nor about moving money, nor about self-reflection itself; transference specifically describes those unconscious relational dynamics directed at the therapist.