Countertransference refers to a counselling session composed of feelings and expressions expressed by the client and discussed with a therapist or others. Usually, the main objective is to get views and suggestions of issues arising with the aim of coming up with solutions.. During the sessions, the therapist and client develop feelings, which can be either positive or negative. When the client develops feelings for the therapists, the situation is known as transference (Murphy, 2013). Countertransference, on the other hand, is a scenario where the therapist develops feelings on the client. Both scenarios are neither bad nor good since they reflect feelings, a common characteristic among people. The therapist might either get attached to the client emotionally or fall in love with them through the interaction they have on a periodical basis. For instance, therapists could be attached to clients who have serious ailments or have people close to them because of sharing common experiences. Sometimes the situation could get out of hand, especially if the client feels the therapist is breaking their trust.
A similar case happened to Jane Williams, a therapist who took a young mother ailing from breast cancer through nine months of therapy (Murphy, 2013). The mother had a painful story of how her husband disowned her and how she felt about leaving her two children behind. From this story, Jane developed sorrow feelings about the young mother’s tribulations because she had experienced a similar situation but survived. At first, Jane felt she could not take up the client but after advice from other therapists, she took her up until her death. However, Jane was in a position to establish countertransference in the beginning, which helped her in the sessions. There are harsh consequences if one cannot determine the condition earlier. The client’s situation could trouble the therapist as if the problem were theirs, consequently interfering with the interaction and treatment. Moreover, the condition might affect interaction with others as the therapist only keeps thinking of the client’s problems. To be on the safe side, the therapist should be aware of the negative effects of countertransference, as it may ruin their professional interaction.
Reference
Murphy, S. N. (2013, September 1). Attending to countertransference. Retrieved 29th April 2015 from Counselling today: http://ct.counseling.org/2013/09/attending-to-countertransference/
Rothschild, B. (1993). Transference & Countertransference: A Common Sense Perspective. Retrieved 29th April 2015 from Toddler Network: http://www.toddlertime.com/mh/terms/countertransference-transference-2.htm
