What is an example of countertransference?

What is an example of countertransference?

Examples of Countertransference For example, a therapist may meet with a person who has extreme difficulty making conversation. The therapist may begin, unwittingly, to lead the conversation and provide additional prompts to the person in treatment to encourage discussion.

What are signs of countertransference?

Warning Signs of Counter-Transference

  • An unreasonable dislike for the client or excessive positive feelings about the client.
  • Becoming over-emotional and preoccupied with the client’s case between sessions.
  • Dreading the therapy session or feeling uncomfortable during the session.

Is transference real love?

While some people take it for granted that patients fall in love with their therapists, the fact that patients do so with some regularity is astonishing. Of course, therapists call these feelings transference, but the patient often experiences them as genuine feelings of love and longing.

How do you respond to erotic transference?

The appropriate response to erotic transference often is to address the recent behavior in therapy without connecting it to early life experiences. This is because bringing behavior to conscious awareness without interpretation can help to minimize the risk of further “flirting” or other acting out.

What are the types of countertransference?

Victor Altshul and I identified three kinds of problematic countransferences. These are the turning away countertransference, activated countertransference, and unconscious enactment.

Is countertransference good or bad?

Despite its negative connotations, countertransference itself is not a bad thing. Rather, it’s the ignoring of countertransference that gets counselors into trouble. For example, the ultimate counseling taboo likely involves crossing ethical boundaries and having a sexual relationship with a client.

Can a psychiatrist fall in love with a patient?

There is actually a term in psychoanalytic literature that refers to a patient’s feelings about his or her therapist known as transference,1 which is when feelings for a former authority figure are “transferred” onto a therapist. Falling in love with your therapist may be more common than you realize.

What is the difference between countertransference and transference?

Transference is subconsciously associating a person in the present with a past relationship. Countertransference is responding to them with all the thoughts and feelings attached to that past relationship.

What is positive countertransference?

Positive countertransference might be characterized by intense liking/loving of the patient, desire to be with the patient, and the idealization of the patient’s efforts in psychotherapy. Erotic countertransference is a common manifestation, as is an intense maternal countertransference.

How do you deal with transference and countertransference?

Step 1: Increase your own awareness of when it is occurring

  1. Ensure you are aware of own countertransference.
  2. Attend to client transference patterns from the start.
  3. Notice resistance to coaching.
  4. Pick up on cues that may be defences.
  5. Follow anxieties.
  6. Spot feelings and wishes beneath those anxieties.

What are the two types of countertransference?

Post-Jungians such as Fordham7 have gone on to distinguish between two types of countertransference: the illusory and the syntonic. The illusory is stirred up in the therapist’s unconscious from unresolved issues and conflicts in her own psyche.

Can countertransference be positive?

What are transference and countertransference in therapy?

These concepts occur within any relationship, and the therapeutic relationship is no exception. So what exactly are transference and countertransference? Transference in therapy is the act of the client unknowingly transferring feelings about someone from their past onto the therapist.

What is positive transference in counseling?

1 Positive transference is when enjoyable aspects of past relationships are projected onto the therapist. 2 Negative transference occurs when negative or hostile feelings are projected onto the therapist. 3 Sexualized transference is when a client feels attracted to their therapist.

Is Jennifer Aniston a countertransference therapist?

In this comical clip of famous actress Jennifer Aniston pretending to be a therapist, we can see exaggerated examples of countertransference. In this case, there are no professional boundaries, ethics, or appropriate therapeutic practices taking place.

How do you deal with transference in clinical relationships?

In other cases, that may make someone feel exposed or judged. As transference often comes from developmental experiences, including developmental trauma, it is important to be gentle, non-judgmental, and attuned to the stage of the clinical relationship, the pace of rapport development, and how strong and safe the connection feels.