Avoiding Countertransference: 5 Signs

Your Therapist is Attracted to You

Client-therapist relationships are unquestionably unique. Although therapy is frequently thought of as a service, the therapeutic relationship created goes much beyond this paradigm. Therapists might experience countertransference, which occurs when they acquire feelings for their clients.

Countertransference can have a detrimental impact on therapist-client relationships and stymie development. Transference and countertransference are important themes that the therapist should discuss with the client.

Examples of Countertransference

● Sharing Excessive Information: The therapist may begin to provide incredibly personal details in great detail. This "opening up" could be detrimental to the client's treatment.

● Parent and Child: The therapists' childhood experiences or experiences with their children can be reflected onto their clients. The therapist begins to make the client feel worse than when they began by challenging them.

● You are Special: The therapist states that one of the clients is distinct from the others. Romantic feelings may arise, as well as a desire to begin a sexual connection.

Signs Therapist is Attracted to You

● Extending sessions unnecessarily, cutting prices for your advantage.

● Dressing Behaviour; Dressing differently, coming closer to you during sessions, and wanting to touch you more frequently are all examples of behavioural changes.

● Show Sympathy Instead of Empathy: Instead of understanding, the therapist begins to share the clients' sentiments (sympathise) rather than understanding (empathise). The outpouring of sympathy may be overdone.

● Personal Disclosure: Therapists frequently begin to reveal information about themselves to their clients. It's normal for them to cry. They pass judgement on your life and the people in it, regardless of your feelings. They begin providing clients advice rather than allowing them to reach their own decisions.

How Do You Handle Countertransference in Therapy?

● Discuss: Feel free to discuss your feelings with the therapist.

● Explain You must notify your therapist if their acts and behaviours make you uncomfortable. Given that therapeutic interactions are unique and every relationship is new, it's conceivable that they simply don't know how to interact with you yet.

● Transparency: It is vital that you be honest with your therapist and assess whether you can continue to work together or whether he can help you find alternative therapy. As difficult as it may be, being forthright and honest is the best thing you can do for your own and your therapists' well-being.

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