transference /-fur″əns/ [L, transferre] , 1. the shifting of symptoms from one part of the body to another, as occurs in conversion disorder. 2. (in psychiatry) an unconscious defense mechanism whereby feelings and attitudes originally associated with important people and events in one’s early life are attributed to others in current interpersonal situations, including psychotherapy. The phenomenon is used as a tool in understanding the emotional problems of the patient and their origins. See also countertransference, parataxic distortion.
