"Transference" in the Workplace: How Childhood Experiences Affect Professional Behavior

If you've been in therapy, or done other forms of self-development, you probably know that your earliest relational experiences have shaped how you view yourself and the world. Just like in your romantic or friendship dynamics, if you don't have awareness about how your family dynamics have shaped your self-concept and behavior, this out-of-awareness transference can have a serious impact on how you interact with co-workers, your boss, as well as what you do for work and how much money you make. Transference is a psychological phenomenon in which the feelings you have about past experiences are unconsciously redirected or transferred to the present situation. This process often means that you cast your coworkers into roles from your childhood and re-enact the same sorts of situations you experienced as children. The more awareness you have about your history and what you are unconsciously recreating, the more choice you have about changing it.

About the facilitator, Jordan Dann:

Jordan Dann, LP, is a dynamic psychoanalyst, author, and speaker. Her training as a Gestalt therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Imago Relationship Therapist, as well as her many years coaching and directing actors; has fostered her desire to help people become more connected, self-aware, free and expressive. As a coach her 20+ years career in the nonprofit sector deepened her commitment to help people reach higher levels of fulfillment, truth, effectiveness, and joy in their work lives; and to help create intentional working environments so that people feel safe to communicate, play, create, resolve conflict, and get work done. She is the author of "SOMATIC THERAPY for Healing Trauma", serves as an Associate Faculty member for the Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy in Manhattan, and runs supervision and workshops for emerging clinicians. She is a nationally certified and NYS licensed psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. You can follow her on Instagram @jordandann.