Countertransference
Everything a therapist feels, thinks and experiences with a client — once seen as a disturbance, now one of the most valuable tools for understanding the relationship.
How it shows up
In the middle of a session the therapist is suddenly overcome by sleepiness, though they are well rested. They feel irritated with someone who is unfailingly polite. With one client they stretch the session; with another they “forget” to ask a question. Countertransference is the therapist’s bodily reactions, feelings, thoughts and actions with a client. They come partly from the therapist and partly from the client and the relationship they create together. We know the same phenomenon from everyday life: after talking to someone we feel oddly drained, sad or tense without knowing why.
What we do with it in therapy
The therapist first separates their reactions: what is theirs (tiredness, their own wounds) and what might be information about the client. They do this in their own therapy, supervision and peer consultation. What remains they use as a hypothesis, not proof — most often as a question: “What is it like for you to tell this?” Research shows that a therapist’s ability to recognise and manage countertransference is associated with better therapy outcomes.
Read more
See also
Preberi več na blogu
Countertransference: what your therapist feels with you and why it belongs in therapy
When sleepiness or anger washes over the therapist: countertransference as a message
Where therapists take their feelings: supervision, personal therapy and countertransference
Will your therapist tell you what they feel? On disclosing countertransference
Countertransference outside the therapy room: what your feelings tell you about others
