Negative Transference In Therapeutic Relationships

Transference and Countertransference can be applied in addiction counseling. When clients and counselor being communicating they both have emotions and feeling doing this process. Addiction counselor may feel as if the client will not change his or her behavior, but the counselor cannot express these feelings to the client. The client can express their feelings and thought about their addiction. Transference is the transfer of information to their counselor.

Transference is often manifested as an erotic attraction towards a therapist, but can be seen in many other forms such as rage, hatred, mistrust, prettification, extreme dependence, or even placing the therapist in a god-like or guru status. When Freud initially encountered transference in his therapy with clients, he felt it was an obstacle to treatment success. But what he learned was that the analysis of the transference was actually the work that needed to be done. The focus in psychodynamic psychotherapy is, in large part, the therapist and client recognizing the transference relationship and exploring what the meaning of the relationship is. Because the transference between patient and therapist happens on an unconscious level, psychodynamic therapists who are largely concerned with a patient's unconscious material use the transference to reveal unresolved conflicts patients have with figures from their childhoods. Countertransference is defined as redirection of a therapist's feelings toward a client, or more generally as a therapist's emotional entanglement with a client. A therapist's atonement to his own countertransference is nearly as critical as his understanding of the transference. Not only does this help the therapist regulate his or her own emotions in the therapeutic relationship, but it also gives the therapist valuable insight into

The whole reason for a therapeutic relationship is to facilitate a successful patient outcome. Each person is unique and has different needs.

Therapeutic relationships ease and comfort a client`s mind. A full-bodied therapeutic relationship fosters a comfortable environment constituting contentment, thus decreasing anxiety levels (Gardner,

(Horvath and Greenberg, 1994) As Binder and Strupp (1997) have suggested, the outcome of the therapeutic alliance is highly connected with the therapist’s capability to recognize whether the treatment they have applied is helpful and if it isn’t how it could be changed in order to turn into a positive treatment. (Binder and Strupp, 1997) Furthermore, both statements suggest that there must be a close connection between the therapist and the family/person, which is being treated at the considered moment. Those texts could suggest that it is important to have a personal, yet professional connection with the “client” in order to achieve a positive outcome. However, this would mean that one must take their work life into their everyday life and engage with the patient even outside work hours and that would be crossing the professional boundaries. To give an example for a positive treatment which evolves into a negative, I would like to draw your attention to the Netflix Original Series - Atypical.

The foundation of therapy starts by building rapport with the client and applying strategies when necessary to overcome a variety of barriers. It is imperative to have rapport with a client and to be aware of barriers to facilitate a good treatment outcome. This will take practice and the use of methods and strategies ready to be implemented when needed. There are many components to building a good client rapport such as: intimacy, vulnerability, exploration of inner challenges, self-awareness, staying present; inner resiliency, empathy, anxiety management, and self-integration, and relationship acceptance. The two types of barriers are internal and external and this is for both the client and the therapist. The common barriers to rapport are countertransference and transference. Strategies for overcoming barriers are: Pause Moment and self-awareness. It also requires skills such as being genuine, sensitive, open, and

Finding a good balance of closeness between the patient and the therapist is somewhat of a struggle between the two parties and it is important to find that perfect

However, counter-transference is caused by the counsellors own limitations which might include the counsellor unresolved emotional issues, but a counsellor can use this to their advantage and draw out information that is important to the clients therapeutic process.

Therapeutic relationship is defined as the collaboration and attachment between the client and therapist that focuses on meeting the health care needs of the client (Bordin, 1979). In this relationship, the therapist without prejudice shows Empathy, insight, understanding and acceptance of the client. Duan and Hill (1996) defined Empathy as “feeling into” the experience of the client. Over the years, the research evidence keeps piling up, and indicating a high degree of Empathy in a Therapeutic relationship is possibly one of the most potent factors in bringing about positive outcome in the therapy

Rogers himself was aware of the criticism expressed about his theories by people who prefer other therapeutic approaches. He describes in Chapter 5 in his book ‘Client-Centred Therapy, three questions raised by other viewpoints’. One of the questions from therapists with a psycho-analytical orientation is how a Person-Centred therapist deals with “transference”, which is “the repetition by the client

Over identify, desire to protect, rescue fantasies, competiveness with parents, and befriending are just a few of the counter-transference response and behaviors therapists have reported experiencing when counseling children and adolescents. Therapists who also work with abused women have also reported instances of counter-transference responses such as reluctance to explore abuse- related issues, identification with the victim or the abuser, vicarious

Transference and counter transference is one of most important aspects of treatment between patient and practitioner. In a clinical setting we do not always have the opportunity to have consecutive treatments with the same patient and as a result may not be able to acknowledge or notice these occurrences. It is not often that I have the opportunity to see a patient on a regular basis or even twice for that matter. As a result, it is not possible for me to notice or recognize any transference that the patient my have towards me. At times however, I clearly know the impose counter-transference & boundaries issues which patient and I experience.

Therapy is often said to be just as much of an art as it is a science. Namely because there is so much that goes into it. To create a successful therapeutic relationship, there are some key elements that need to be a part of the formula. Each therapist may end up having a different recipe, but it is important that a therapist knows what ingredients he or she may need and what they can add for it to be successful. Throughout this paper, this writer will discuss characteristics she hopes to embody as a therapist, as well as the values and skills she wishes to bring with her into a therapeutic relationship.

If the client feels “safe” in the session, this can be very powerful for them. As sessions occur, the client will feel more comfortable in trusting the clinician with their feelings, attitudes and emotions. The client is able to present their needs and problems in ways that only they can express. Another factor that may resonate in the sessions may include transference and counter-transference. Transference is when the client’s attitudes, feelings and emotional conflicts from past events begin to be directed to the therapist, while Countertransference is exactly the opposite, when the therapist’s attitudes, feelings, and emotional conflicts from the past are directed towards the client (Transference and Countertransference, 2011). There are not too many positive factors with Countertransference, except being able to recognize it, when it exists, and be able to work out any conflict. A client’s experiences can affect their feelings, emotions, and behaviors towards their therapist. If the therapist remains their professionalism, and sets the proper limits and boundaries, a client can work through past experiences that are affecting their functioning. In a lecture, it is the role of the counselor to recognize the client’s experience; reflect and process the client’s emotional state, as well as process their own emotional reactions to clients and their issues. When clients can work through their problems from past

There are many variables that influence the success of therapy for the client, none more so than the therapeutic relationship. The therapeutic relationship is defined as the strength and collaborative relationship between the client and therapist that emphasises mutually agreed goals and tasks within the context of a strong affective bond (Horvath, 1994.) In the therapeutic relationship, the clinician offers care, touch, compassion, presence, and any other act or attitude that would foster healing, and expects nothing in return (Trout, 2013.) Some clinicians believe that the “therapeutic relationship is a precondition of change, others as the fertile soil that permits change, while others see it as the central mechanism of change itself” (Norcross, 2010.) This is not to devalue other variables that impact the success of the therapy such as client involvement and the treatment method.