An Analysis study of counselors'' countertransferenceAbstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the counselors''
countertransference (CT) experience. Twenty-one counselors with
CT experience were interviewed and the following factors thought
to contribute to CT were considered and investigated. They are
(1) CT reaction, (2) CT cause, (3) CT coping strategy, and (4)
CT effect. By using the in-depth interview of the qualitative
research, a semi-structured interview were conducted and used to
collect data. The open coding approach was adopted to analyze
the data and the following findings are induced:(A) CT
reaction: the following two types were considered: CT feeling
and CT behavior. The CT feeling includes (1) like, (2) admire,
(3) pain, (4) sorry, (5) fear, (6) inability, (7) guilty, (8)
blame, (9) anger, and (10) others. The CT behavior includes (1)
compassionate understanding, (2) nurturing, (3) urgent problem
solving, (4) emotional over-involvement, (5) forming a non-
counseling relationship, (6) complying with client''s request,
(7) keeping client at a distance, (8) lacking physical attention
, (9) immature termination, (10) frustrating client, (11)
blocking exploration, and (12) neglecting client. (B) CT
cause: the following ten reasons can be induced: (1) counselor''s
personality trait, (2) counselor''s value system and need, (3)
counselor''s perception of client and his/her problem, (4)
touching counselor''s personal experience emotionally by client,
(5) client''s behavior during the counseling process, (6)
counselor''s evaluation of the counseling, (7) counselor''s
evaluation of self-competence, (8) unexpected counseling
behavior, (9) counselor''s physical conditions, and (10) others.
Among the above reasons, (3), (4) and (5) are found most. The
twenty-one experienced counselors have at least one of them. (C)
CT coping strategy: it can be categorized into in counseling and
after counseling. For coping strategy in counseling, the
counselor uses (1) reflecting self''s conditions, (2) checking
client''s conditions, (3) reminding self of the role, (4)
changing the counseling way, (5) reshaping, (6) suppressing
emotion, and (7) reconsidering CT cause. The counselors most
like to use (3) and (4) as copying strategies in counseling.
For coping strategy after counseling , the counselor uses (1)
asking for help, (2) looking for information, (3) reconsidering
the effects on counseling and client, (4) requesting a case
conference, (5) looking for counseling, (6) being unable to
copy, and (7) others. Among the above strategies, the (1) and
(2) are used most. (D) CT effect: it can be categorized into CT
effects on the counseling process and CT effects on counselor
self. About the CT effects on the counseling process, it
contains seven types: (1) immature termination, (2) making
client dependent, (3) becoming chatting, (4) ineffective
counseling, (5) tense counseling relationship, (6) blocking the
objectivity of problem judgement, and (7) blocking counseling
effective progress. The types (1), (4) and (7) happen most.
About the CT effects on counselor self, it contains four types:
(1) understanding self , (2) prompting an action to get
necessary information, (3) considering and improving of future
counseling , and (4) others. The type of understanding self
happens most.The results of comparison and analysis were
discussed. Based on the discussion, practical suggestions and
applications were made for (1) education organization, (2)
counseling practician, and (3) future research.Key word：
countertransference