ABSTRACT
Therapists are people. They have feelings and sometimes experience powerful emotional reactions in response to their patients. Group therapy complicates the picture as therapists experience powerful reactions toward a member, a subgroup, or a whole group. Although therapist reactions were once seen as experiences to analyze and get past, current psychodynamic thinking values the therapist’s reactions as an instructive and even central aspect of the therapeutic relationship. This chapter will review the development of psychodynamic thinking about therapist reactions, examine the particular effect of group dynamics on them, describe some common therapist reactions in group therapy, and discuss effective containment and utilization.
