Since Sigmund Freud, a key term in psychotherapy. Besides the more technical aspects in actual therapy, the idea of transference in essence means that during everyday situations old and ancient content from the unconscious can be brought to the surface (if it has not been dealt with) through actual events. Anything that happened at a given moment could either have real objective meaning or has been “transferred” and has nothing to do with the present—it is rather something carried to the surface from the past. See Television, Companion, Shadow.... Little Giant Encyclopedia