Countertransference is the redirection of a therapist's own feelings toward a patient, the mirror image of transference, in which a patient redirects feelings onto the therapist. Sigmund Freud publicly introduced the term in 1910, describing it as arising from the effect a patient has on the analyst's own unconscious feelings, and he initially treated it as a problem for the analyst to recognize and overcome. Later psychoanalysts, including Paula Heimann and Carl Jung, argued that a therapist's countertransference reactions are not simply an obstacle but can also be useful clinical information about what a patient is unconsciously communicating. In practice, this means both the patient's and the therapist's own histories shape what happens in the therapeutic relationship.
Facts
Core ClaimA therapist's own unconscious feelings, history and reactions toward a patient, triggered by the therapeutic relationship, can shape treatment and must be recognized and managed by the therapist rather than acted on unreflectively. 1 First Described Year Everyday Context Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Countertransference
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Countertransference
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Countertransference is a widely established concept originating in Freudian psychotherapy, in which a therapist's own history and emotions affect how they feel about and treat the patient.
Lead section, first sentence.
Countertransference is a widely established concept originating in Freudian psychotherapy, in which a therapist's own history and emotions affect how they feel about and treat the patient.
Early formulations section.
The phenomenon of countertransference (German: Gegenübertragung) was first defined publicly by Sigmund Freud in 1910
In Branch: Clinical Psychology, Lead sentence
Countertransference is a widely established concept originating in Freudian psychotherapy, in which a therapist's own history and emotions affect how they feel about and treat the patient.
In Group: Projection and Transference Processes, Lead
Countertransference is a widely established concept originating in Freudian psychotherapy, in which a therapist's own history and emotions affect how they feel about and treat the patient.
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