Transference means the transfer of feelings to a psychoanalyst of love or anger that had been originally directed to a patient’s parents or other authority figures.
In psychoanalysis, transference is the process whereby the patient transfers his feelings about other people who are very important to him on to the analyst. It is regarded as a normal, if not essential, part of the analytic process. The analyst, by refusing to play the role assigned him, can show the patient what he is doing and help him uncover the importance of the original person.