Countertransference and the Therapist's Inner Experience

Gelso, Charles J.; Hayes, Jeffrey A.

doi:10.4324/9780203936979

Cited by 234 publications

(355 citation statements)

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“…Prior to and consistent with some of the previously presented research findings, psychodynamically oriented therapists have also held responsible psychotherapist hostility, blaming, and poor management of countertransference for negative outcome and/or premature termination (Ferenzi & Rank, 1923;Freud, 1910Freud, , 1937Freud, /1964Gelso & Hayes, 2007;Greenson, 1967;Kernberg, 1965Kernberg, , 1975Kohut, 1979;Strupp, 1973;Wile, 1984;Winnicott, 1949). For example, Freud (1937Freud ( /1964 and others (e.g., Greenson, 1967) have highlighted the potential danger that exists when the psychotherapist is engaging in psychotherapy and pursuing certain interventions as means of reparation for his or her own feelings of guilt or hostility.…”

Section: Relational Variablessupporting

confidence: 54%

Training implications of harmful effects of psychological treatments.

Castonguay

Boswell

Constantino³

et al. 2010

American Psychologist

217

147

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The goal of this article is to delineate training implications regarding harmful effects associated with psychotherapy. The authors strongly recommend that trainees be made aware of (and encouraged to examine carefully) the potentially harmful treatments that have been recently identified (Lilienfeld, 2007). Consistent with a broad perspective on evidence-based practice, it is also argued that additional guidelines for the prevention and repair of harmful impacts can be derived from psychotherapy research on process (technique and relationship) and participant (client and therapist) variables. For example, rigid adherence to the application of psychotherapy techniques can be a potentially harmful therapist behavior that necessitates careful training on the nature and flexible use of interventions. Furthermore, the authors suggest that trainers and supervisors tentatively consider training implications linked to clinical observations and theoretical assertions, such as the premature use of clinical interpretations, with the assumption that more confidence in such therapeutic guidelines can be gained when they are supported by multiple knowledge sources (empirical, clinical, conceptual). Finally, training implications related to the monitoring of harmful effects in terms of treatment outcome and process are demarcated.

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Section: Relational Variablessupporting

confidence: 54%

Training implications of harmful effects of psychological treatments.

Castonguay

Boswell

Constantino³

et al. 2010

American Psychologist

217

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As mentioned, some studies find the opposite pattern, that is, the more disturbed patients benefit comparatively more from transference work (e.g., Høglend et al, 2011). The constructive use of countertransference reactions may also be distinguished by the level of interpersonal functioning in patients (see e.g., Gelso & Hayes, 2007;Kernberg, 1965). We intended to understand more of this dynamic from the point of view of therapists' own reports of their skills in transference and countertransference work, by including the interaction effect between this factor and level of interpersonal disturbance in patients prior to treatment.…”

Section: Aims Of the Present Studymentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Some studies have indicated that certain aspects (states/traits) of therapists, for instance their attachment representations (Shauenberg et al, 2010), or the use of particular interventions (e.g., transference interpretations or countertransference disclosures to resolve therapeutic impasses), interact with patients' baseline pathology in ways that lead to better or poorer outcomes (e.g., Gelso & Hayes, 2007;Høglend et al, 2008;Piper et al, 1991). For example, only with more disturbed patients did therapists' secure attachment representations turn out to be beneficial in their therapeutic work (Shauenburg et al, 2010).…”

Section: Patients' Interpersonal Distress As Moderatormentioning

confidence: 98%

Psychotherapists' self-reports of their interpersonal functioning and difficulties in practice as predictors of patient outcome

Nissen‐Lie

Monsen

Ulleberg

et al. 2013

Psychotherapy Research

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The need for psychotherapy research to understand the therapist effect has been emphasized in several studies. In a large naturalistic study (255 patients, 70 therapists), this topic was addressed using therapists' self-assessed difficulties in practice and interpersonal functioning in therapeutic work as predictors of patient outcome in three conventional outcome measures. Three-level growth curve analyses were employed to assess whether the therapist characteristics, measured by the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire (Orlinsky & Rønnestad, 2005), predicted the level of and change in patient symptom distress (SCL-90R), interpersonal problems (IIP-64), and observer-rated global functioning (GAF). Preliminary estimates of therapist effects in patient change indicated that 4% of change in general symptom distress (GSI), almost 21% of change in IIP global scores, and 28% of growth in GAF could be attributed to therapist differences. The results also demonstrated that certain therapist self-perceptions were clearly related to patient outcome. For example, therapists' scores on a type of difficulty in practice called "Professional self-doubt" (PSD) (denoting doubt about one's professional efficacy) were positively associated with change in IIP global scores. It is suggested that therapists' self-reported functioning can be of value in understanding how individual therapists contribute to therapeutic change although their influence is not necessarily exerted in expected directions.

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“…As identified by Gelso and Hayes (2007), the direct association between therapists' countertransference enactments and the therapeutic relationship has undergone limited empirical investigation. Growing evidence suggests that countertransference behaviour negatively affects working alliance (Ligiero & Gelso, 2002) and outcome (Gelso, Latts, Gomez, & Fassinger, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Psychotherapists' response to borderline personality disorder: A core conflictual relationship theme analysis

Bourke

Grenyer

2010

Psychotherapy Research

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This study examined therapists' emotional and cognitive responses to patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) versus patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Therapists' narratives (N=80) were elicited using the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm interview method and then scored according to the core conflictual relationship theme-Leipzig/Ulm method (CCRT-LU; Albani et al., 2002). The emotional valences of therapists' responses were significantly more negative toward patients with BPD. Therapists differentially experienced patients with BPD as typically withdrawing and patients with MDD as attending within sessions. Therapists felt less satisfied in their therapeutic role with BPD despite a consistent wish to help patients. Findings support the utility of the CCRT-LU method in investigating therapist relational experiences and underscore the challenges for BPD treatment.

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Countertransference and the Therapist's Inner Experience

Cited by 234 publications

References 0 publications

Training implications of harmful effects of psychological treatments.

Training implications of harmful effects of psychological treatments.

Psychotherapists' self-reports of their interpersonal functioning and difficulties in practice as predictors of patient outcome

Psychotherapists' response to borderline personality disorder: A core conflictual relationship theme analysis

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