what is countertransference
Jessica Young
Updated on May 25, 2026
Examples of countertransference
inappropriately disclosing personal information. offering advice. not having boundaries. developing strong romantic feelings toward you.
What is the difference between transference and countertransference?
Transference is subconsciously associating a person in the present with a past relationship. For example, you meet a new client who reminds you of a former lover. Countertransference is responding to them with all the thoughts and feelings attached to that past relationship.
What is countertransference according to Freud?
The concept of countertransference, originally coined by Freud as the unresolved, reactivated transference dispositions of the analyst is currently defined as the total affective disposition of the analyst in response to the patient and his/her transference, shifting from moment to moment, and providing important data
What are the types of countertransference?
These are the turning away countertransference, activated countertransference, and unconscious enactment. Each poses a different kind of problem. The turning away countertransference includes those kinds of reactions that represent some kind of reduction in interest or investment in the patient.
What are signs of countertransference?
Four signs of countertransference are:
Failing to maintain healthy boundaries.Extreme emotional reactions to your behavior.Inappropriate romantic or sexual behavior.Inappropriate self-disclosure.
What causes countertransference?
In psychoanalytic theory, counter-transference occurs when the therapist projects their own unresolved conflicts onto the client. This could be in response to something the client has unearthed. Although many now believe it to be inevitable, counter-transference can be damaging if not appropriately managed.
What is countertransference in social work?
Countertransference, which occurs when a therapist transfers emotions to a person in therapy, is often a reaction to transference, a phenomenon in which the person in treatment redirects feelings for others onto the therapist.
What is cultural countertransference?
The cultural countertransference is viewed as a matrix of intersecting cognitive and affect-laden beliefs/experiences that exist within the therapist at varying levels of consciousness.
What is countertransference PDF?
Definition. Countertransference can be broadly understood as the therapist’s emotional-cognitive. and behavioral responses to clients in therapy or at least those responses that are. potentially problematic.
Who founded countertransference?
To briefly sketch its history (with some initial thanks to Wikipedia – ): Freud first defined countertransference as ‘the result of patients’ influence on [the physician’s] unconscious feelings and ‘as a personal problem for the analyst’ (Freud, 1910. 1910.
What is objective countertransference?
Objective countertransference comprises those feelings the analyst experiences with the patient that are repetitions of feelings from the patient’s life outside the analysis. It is viewed as being induced by the patient and is understood in the context of the patient’s life, not the analyst’s.
What is countertransference in massage therapy?
Transference occurs whenever a client projects unresolved feelings and personal issues (often from childhood, and often related to an authority figure) onto the practitioner. Countertransference occurs whenever a practitioner allows unresolved feelings and personal issues to influence their relationship with a client.
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.
What is defensive countertransference?
1. Defensive countertransference is the most general type, and occurs when the client triggers off the therapist’s unresolved struggles with areas such as dependency, sexuality or aggression.
What is the impact of countertransference?
Destructive countertransference patterns can have a significant and pervasive effect on the counseling relationship. They can erode any sense of trust or rapport that may have developed between counselor and client.
How do I stop countertransference?
How to Deal with Countertransference:
Recognize it. Countertransference can easily happen no matter how seasoned a mental health provider is or how long they have been in the field. Consult with Colleagues. Self-Care. Refer Your Client Out.
What is concordant countertransference?
Concordant countertransference involves the therapist taking in the patient’s inner state (Racker, 2007; Brown, 2011), causing the therapist to align with the patient in thoughts and feeling. This process of the therapist experiencing the same inner reality closely resembles empathy.
Is countertransference an ethical issue?
However, issues of co-transference , when not addressed appropriately, may also give rise to ethical issues related to practice competence. A failure to recognize and/or address issues of transference and/or countertransference appropriately could potentially subject a client to a risk of harm.