The therapist’s emotional reactions to the patient that are based on the therapist’s unconscious needs and conflicts, as distinguished from his or her conscious responses to the patient’s behavior. Countertransference may interfere with the therapist’s ability to understand the patient and may adversely affect the therapeutic technique. However, countertransference also may have positive aspects and may be used by the therapist as a guide to a more empathic and accurate understanding of the patient.
The psychiatrist’s partly unconscious or conscious emotional reactions to the patient.
A form of transference recognized by psychoanalytic theory in which the analyst develops strong emotional attachments for his or her patient.
In psychoanalytic theory, the development by the analyst of an emotional (i.e., transference) relationship with the patient. In this situation, the therapist may lose objectivity.
The emotional response of the analyst towards or entanglement with the analysand, reflecting the intricate dynamics of their therapeutic relationship.