Most good therapists can recognize and work with their countertransference. Freud first developed the concept of countertransference in the s , where he viewed this as an obstacle to be overcome by the therapist. There has been an evolving understanding of the concept since that time. He viewed this not as an obstacle to therapy, but as a tool. Around the same time, British psychoanalyst Donald W. Winnicott also argued for the benefits of countertransference. For example, he believed that therapists often react to their clients in ways others might.
Today, many therapists accept that countertransference can provide helpful information about a client. There are many examples of countertransference that may occur in therapy. Some of these may have more adverse effects on the therapeutic process than others.
However, they may provide suggestions, such as how to communicate effectively with others. However, when the self-disclosure takes away from your treatment, or if you think the therapist is making therapy about them, that can be a warning sign that you need to find a new therapist.
Some therapists decide to share the effect that their clients are having on them and their feelings. This can be used as a technique to gain trust, among other therapeutic reasons, and for the therapist to show authenticity toward their clients. On the other hand, useful countertransference in therapy can help you grow.
Countertransference and transference are very similar. Transference involves the client projecting feelings onto the therapist. For example, your therapist may remind you of your mother. If this is the case, then you may experience your therapist as you would your mother. They may also consider clinical supervision. Sigmund Freud first described counter-transference in Attitudes of the concept have changed over time.
Freud first defined it as being in reaction to transference from a client, and it was thought of as largely detrimental to therapy.
However, this thinking changed around the s, when counter-transference started to be viewed as something that could be positive. The definition of counter-transference was also broadened to include any reaction a therapist had to a client. Counter-transference is common, and it's not always a bad thing. If you think this is something that might be affecting your therapeutic relationship, feel empowered to bring it up with your therapist.
If having that conversation makes you feel uneasy, that's understandable. But it might mean it is time to move on and find a therapist who is a better fit for you.
Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Systematic review of studies about countertransference in adult psychotherapy.
Trends Psychiatry Psychother. Countertransference management and effective psychotherapy: Meta-analytic findings. Psychotherapy Chic. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. Doe she enjoy having to stick herself before every meal to check her blood sugar, give herself an injection, sometimes in public restaurants or other places in public view, just to stay alive?
No, but it has to be done to maintain her life. Trying to lessen the stigma of mental health concerns is an important part of helping this population return to society. This article has reinforced my sense that what I am feeling is normal. I do not have the advantage of supervision or a peer group where I can share these feelings. I do see a therapist on my own, and we often discuss my cases, which is a big help. Self disclosure is uncomfortable for me in this setting. My boundaries need to be very defined with this population, and I constantly have to be aware of manipulation.
Countertransference and manipulation are two areas that need to be monitored. Thanks for the great article. Thank you for writing this article. I am a counselor in training graduating in the spring of Countertransference has been discussed, at length, in the classroom. Similarly, the subject of self-disclosure is one covered in more than one of my courses. Again, it is when we are in practice we realize how blurred the line between sharing for the sake of developing the therapeutic relationship and over-sharing can become.
Indeed, these situations are easily addressed with effective supervision; both on site and in the classroom. My site supervisor often challenges me to process the way I feel when working with clients.
For example, I had a client around whom I would become anxious. On my own I could no explanation for this reaction. I had another client dealing with a situation I experienced several years ago. I knew the pain and uncertainty the client felt and was tempted to say as much. Excellent supervision helped me understand why I became anxious with the first client and assisted me in working to alleviate that anxiety. Together, my site supervisor and I thoroughly explored the benefits of limited self-disclosure and the potential consequences of over-sharing when working with clients whose circumstance s are similar to my own.
Because I was able to discuss and process these issues with my supervisor, I was also able to avoid potential missteps in session. Regarding group supervision, I could not agree more with your assertion that creating a safe place for group members to discuss their experiences is essential. Exercises like case conceptualizations can elicit strong emotions from the presenter.
Asking for advice and feedback on our work, admitting we are not sure how to proceed, and allowing the group to ask questions about our approach creates a certain amount of vulnerability. Fortunately, our courses, role plays and group work have structured a bond among the cohort. Again, effective supervision from the professor facilitated the development of trust among the group.
This is an interesting article as it highlights the fact that professionals may feel obliged to appear perfect at the expense of appearing human and truly connected with their clients.
As someone who experienced bad therapy I was shocked by the tendency for therapists to excuse or deny the extent of therapeutic blunders and mental illness or exploitative practice among their colleagues and then to try to attribute blame to the presenting client for the fact that one of their peers behaved seductively, abusively or exploited them and betrayed their trust. Anyhow, I felt shut down but also hold myself I experienced dissociation as part of my ptsd.
I am utterly confused. I worked with her over a year. Maybe this is projective identification, but I was not out of my body, in fact, for a long time, I felt aligned. If anything, I was expressing feelings very well and was feeling my body. Long story short, our next meeting is long weekend so I agreed to a month from now meeting.
Now my question is what to do? I feel and felt she is having a bad day or was triggered but I caught myself falling into caring or soothing so I stayed in my own space so to speak.
Now I still want to work with her even though I found her frustrating, uncaring and sometimes maybe undermining, I also know a lot of my transferences are similar BUT I have recovered, and integrated a lot while working with her.
I am invested in recovering and making meaning out of my story from childhood. I have high tolerance for high frustration due to my trauma, but I am also realistic and do not put myself under the care of immature or abusive professional now I am just wondering what my next steps are.
I do not feel apology admitting I do nt trust her was extremely freeing for me and did not take anything from me. I am not sure how to approach or respond…and maybe no one knows but I feel concern for her but also I want to move beyond this and get back to my journey but I am afraid of bad energy with her.
Hi there. We see a lot of red flags here. So we find her feedback more directional than it should be, in our books. Secondly, discussing trust issues with a therapist should not be reacted to like that. It should be a springboard for what is raising your trust issues, not a personal battle between you. Changing therapists can be hard, and, as you say, there have been benefits. But if it really went down like this, we would say there are certainly better therapists out there as well as worse!
Yes, therapists are people, they can mess up. So if she apologises, it could mean you break through to new levels of trust. Lost my 10 year therapist to unexpected brain cancer. This therapist has always been genuinely caring, supportive and kind. She encouraged me to talk about my anger. I said not a good idea. Anyways, I drank 2 drinks and emailed with angry feeling from past and tons of transference.
Well I apologized but she was angry, denied it. For the past 3 weeks, in every session, she is giving me more and more boundary rules. I really care for her, but I want to hear what her side of the story is. I told her repeatedly I was sorry for things I said that hurt her.
So we are assuming you made a typo, and what you mean is that you lost a loved one, and therapy has only been in your life for one year, yes? So what we see here is a misunderstanding about professional boundaries, which would of course be very confusing and upsetting for you. Is this therapist registered with a professional body? Fully qualified? Did she make the rules of your professional relationship clear in the first intake session?
As what you seem to be explaining here are not usual behaviours or ethical boundaries for a therapist. The relationship between a client and therapist is warm but professional. A professional therapist, unless they are perhaps a schema therapist, a particular type of therapy that can carefully encourage a closer bond albeit still with clear precise professional boundaries , does not give out emails for messaging purposes outside of appointments, only for appointment cancellation or emergencies.
You do not have contact during the week, you only go to your sessions, unless there is a mental health emergency such as you feel you are having a breakdown. Constant contact is not a part of professional therapy, it is not healthy for the client, it encourages dependency instead of resourcefulness. The emergency contact etc should have been discussed in first session and yes, would be your family or emergency services, much like a colleague would call your family or emergency services, again, this is a professional not personal relationship.
A therapist should be monitoring if the relationship is losing clear boundaries and constantly bringing back the relationship to a connected, warm, but uniquely professional one. So this is not looking like counter transference at all. Or, if she did set boundaries and you misunderstood, it would be transference, where perhaps you are assuming a stronger bond than there is. In therapy, clear structure and boundaries are necessary as otherwise the client is left confused, thinking the relationship is more than professional, which is destablising and not good for the client, which we can see you are now experiencing.
Is there any chance you often assume people are angry at you? Is there a person in your life who would get angry all the time? Again, with transference, as a client we attribute emotions from another life relationship to the therapist.
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