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What is transference and countertransference in person-centred counselling?
Transference is the redirection of feelings about a specific person onto someone else (in therapy, this refers to a client’s projection of their feelings about someone else onto their therapist). Countertransference is the redirection of a therapist’s feelings toward the client. Transference is when someone redirects their feelings about one person onto someone else. During a therapy session, it usually refers to a person transferring their feelings about someone else onto their therapist. Countertransference is when a therapist transfers feelings onto the patient. An awareness of transference and countertransference helps the client see their relationships as repairable, which will ultimately help them approach life with a newfound hope. The therapist can use transference to support their client in developing healthier social and relational interactions across the board. Transference can also happen in a healthcare setting. For example, transference in therapy happens when a patient attaches anger, hostility, love, adoration, or a host of other possible feelings onto their therapist or doctor. Therapists know this can happen. They actively try to monitor for it. Sexualized transference — When a client becomes obsessively attracted to a therapist in an erotic way, the phenomenon is called sexualized transference. This goes beyond a benign acknowledgment of an individual’s objective attractiveness and usually results in a client behaving in inappropriate ways.
How is transference viewed in person centered therapy?
Transference in therapy is the act of the client unknowingly transferring feelings about someone from their past onto the therapist. Freud and Breuer (1895) described transference as the deep, intense, and unconscious feelings that develop in therapeutic relationships with patients. Transference in psychoanalytic theory is when you project feelings about someone else onto your therapist. A classic example of transference is when a client falls in love with their therapist. However, one might also transfer feelings of rage, anger, distrust, or dependence. Transference involves the client projecting feelings onto the therapist. For example, your therapist may remind you of your mother. If this is the case, then you may experience your therapist as you would your mother. Those feelings can clue the therapist into what work needs to happen in therapy. One type of therapy known as transference-focused therapy (TFP) harnesses the transference that occurs in therapy to help individuals gain insight into their own behavior and thought patterns. It is most commonly used to treat borderline personality (BPD).
What is difference between transference and countertransference?
In contrast to transference (which is about the client’s emotional reaction to the therapist), countertransference can be defined as the therapist’s emotional reaction to the client. Similarly to transference, countertransference is a common occurrence in therapy. If transference isn’t identified for what it is or handled well, it can overpower the therapeutic process. It can poison your relationship with your therapist and make it impossible to move forward in therapy. But if you work through it, transference can take your therapy to the next level. Transference is the phenomenon in which an individual projects emotions or expectations onto another person, especially their therapist. This often happens unconsciously and may be overlooked unless it interferes with therapeutic progress. Which of the following best describes transference in psychotherapy? A. Transference is a Freudian belief that describes a client-therapist relationship. In this process, the client transfers emotions and substitutes the therapist for someone important in the client’s life. Especially in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic forms of psychotherapy, transference is considered a useful therapeutic tool.
What is an example of 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. Transference (German: Übertragung) is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which repetitions of old feelings, old attitudes, old desires, and/or old fantasies that someone displaces, are subconsciously projected onto a here-and-now person. To end a transference pattern, one can try to actively separate the person from the template by looking for differences. Transference reactions usually point to a deeper issue or unfinished business from the past. Positive transference is when a client transfers positive feelings about someone (e.g., love, idealization, attraction) onto their therapist. For example, someone who grew up with a warm and loving mother may experience their female therapist in a similar way.
What are examples of 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. It’s important to remember that transference is often subconscious or unconscious – making it difficult to spot and address. Transference is particularly likely to occur when we face any form of perceived power imbalance in a relationship. Transference. Like self-objects, transference is a significant part of self-psychology. Transference pertains to the transfer of childhood feelings or needs to another person or thing. This can take place in three different forms: mirroring, idealizing, and alter ego/twinship. According to psychodynamic theory, transference interpretations are an essential component of psychodynamic technique because of their effectiveness in increasing insight about the nature of the one’s problems and in their immediate affective resonance to the patient as they are practiced in the here and now of the …
Can countertransference be positive in Counselling?
There are two types of countertransference: negative and positive. Positive countertransference may be used to some benefit in a therapist-client relationship. Countertransference is a psychological phenomenon which occurs when a clinician lets their own feelings shape the way they interact with or react to their client in therapy. Oftentimes, countertransference is unconscious and both the clinician and client do not realize it is happening. Examples of Countertransference Excessive disclosure of personal matters — If the therapist “hits it off” with a client, it can be easy for the therapist to view the client as a friend. This may result in the therapist opening up and sharing personal matters that aren’t beneficial to the client’s treatment. Positive transference is when a client transfers positive feelings about someone (e.g., love, idealization, attraction) onto their therapist. For example, someone who grew up with a warm and loving mother may experience their female therapist in a similar way.