For The Whole Therapist: Countertransference: How to Manage When Things Feel Too Close
Growth and Learning for Therapists, Emotions and Relationships in Therapy, Healing and Liberation, Boundaries and Ethics in Therapy, Mindfulness and Self-Reflection, Community and Collective Healing, For the Whole Therapist, Tanisha Christie LCSW Tanisha Christie Growth and Learning for Therapists, Emotions and Relationships in Therapy, Healing and Liberation, Boundaries and Ethics in Therapy, Mindfulness and Self-Reflection, Community and Collective Healing, For the Whole Therapist, Tanisha Christie LCSW Tanisha Christie

For The Whole Therapist: Countertransference: How to Manage When Things Feel Too Close

Consider a therapist working with a client who shares a similar background of childhood trauma. The therapist begins to feel an overwhelming urge to protect the client, leading to over-involvement and difficulty maintaining professional boundaries. Or in another scenario, a therapist feels intense frustration towards a client who consistently resists therapeutic interventions. Or a therapist feeling discomfort or guilt related to their privilege compared to their client, these are experiences of countertransference in the client-therapist relationship.  Countertransference, a concept introduced by Sigmund Freud, refers to the emotional reactions and projections a therapist experiences towards a client. While Freud contributed significantly to the development of psychoanalysis, his work has been critiqued for its patriarchal biases and lack of cultural sensitivity. Despite these flaws, his introduction of countertransference laid the groundwork for future exploration. 

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