Countertransference in a Therapy or Coaching

              As mentioned before, transference is the emotional involvement from a client to a therapist, on the contrary, countertransference is the emotional involvement from a therapist to a client. Regarding countertransference, Freud explained that countertransference “would break through the therapist’s professionalism and produce an inappropriate response” (Kahn, 2002, p.198). In other words, Freud regarded countertransference as a hindrance factor to be removed in a therapy session. However, it is not easy for a therapist to notice and exclude countertransference. In fact, after Freud proposed this concept, countertransference had been considered as an inevitable and ceaseless phenomenon. Nowadays, countertransference has been seen as inevitable and even useful because all empathy which has a positive impact on a therapy begins with it (Kahn, 2002), although Freud recognized that countertransference distorted the therapist’s perspective or a client relationship.

This phenomenon can occur in not only a therapy session but also in a coaching session. Therapeutic theories and practices are often helpful for a coaching because a therapy usually overlaps coaching through both of them are fundamentally different. That's why I read many books about a psychotherapy.

Reference

Basic Freud: Psychoanalytic Thought for the 21st Century