Feelings that the psychoanalyst unconsciously directs to the patient, stemming from his or her own emotional vulnerabilities and unresolved conflicts.
(Reber) 1. In psychoanalysis, the analyst’s displacement of affect onto the client. 2. More generally, the analyst’s emotional involvement in the therapeutic interaction. In the former sense countertransference is a distorting element in a psychoanalysis and can be disruptive; in the latter sense it Is considered benign and, by some, inevitable.
the psychoanalyst's displacement of emotion onto the patient or more generally the psychoanalyst's emotional involvement in the therapeutic interaction
The therapist's emotional response to the transference (see Transference). At times, negative countertransference may cause limitations and interfere with the patient's treatment.
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. Currently, there is emphasis on the positive aspects of countertransference and its use as a guide to a more empathic understanding of the patient.
Countertransference is a term in psychotherapy, denoting a condition where the therapist, as a result of the therapy sessions, begins to transfer the therapist's own repressed feelings to the patient. For example, a therapist might have a strong desire for a client to get all 'A's' in university because the client reminds her of her children at that stage in life, and the anxieties that the therapist experienced during that time.