transference

n. The unconscious feelings toward one person from the past redirected or transferred to another in the present (e.g., meeting someone who unconsciously reminds you of your father and interacting with that person in ways you would normally interact with your father). Transference is more generally defined as the interpretation of ambiguous (usually interpersonal) cues based on one's upbringing or attachment. In psychotherapy, transference refers specifically to the patient's interpretation of the therapist's behavior, based on the patient's early attachment to primary caregivers. A patient is said to have a positive transference if he or she sees the therapist's behavior and interpretations as positive or benevolent and is said to have a negative transference if he/she sees the therapist's behavior and interpretations as negative or harmful. In long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy, it is common for a patient to have both positive and negative transferences over the course of treatment. – DGa