Therapy
Therapy is simply a close relationship between a therapist and a client. Just like any other relationship, the therapy relationship also gets tricky along the process. The issue of boundaries as it may be a significant limitation in most relationships, also significantly affects the therapeutic process between the therapist and the client. The limits affected in therapy narrow down to two words: transference and countertransference.
Transference is when the client projects their feelings about someone in their present or past life onto the therapist. For example, a client with a controlling father may tend to project their attitudes towards their male therapist by being late for the counseling, acting, and vrude. This projection of the feelings by the client is mainly unconscious, and the client may not know that they are doing it.
Countertransference, on the other hand, takes place when the therapist transfers their feelings to the client during therapy. Some of the signs of countertransference may include excessive self-disclosure of the therapist to the patient or having too much interest in the life of the client past the recommended importance of a therapist: an unprofessional interest like romantic interest. A therapist who identifies this problem could best refer the client to another therapist to avoid complicating the session. The feelings can also be detrimental. For instance, if the client experienced the same issue the therapist experienced, there can be a transfer of negative attitudes towards the client by the therapist.
Some of the triggers that may cause countertransference for me as a therapist are issues regarding rape, incest, and abuse. These topics cause me as a therapist to be judgmental, thus interfering with the counseling process, while some have been experienced personally, thus limiting me to handle them.
One of the significant ways of reactions to countertransference is the referral of the client to another therapist, always works. A therapist may also consider counseling to help them deal with the suppressed issue to help them deal with the problem in case there was a fixation. Triggers consist of patients with similar experiences as the therapist or clients with challenges that a therapist’s value system contradicts with.
References
Murphy, S. N. (2013, September 1). Attending to countertransference. Counseling Today. Retrieved from http://ct.counseling.org/2013/09/attending-to-countertransference
American Psychological Association. (2009). APA concise dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Girard, I. (2016). Countertransference- when your therapist loses objectivity. Harley Therapy. Retrieved from: https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/countertransference-in-therapy.htm