ABSTRACT
In this article the author separates out some particular kinds of responses which are common in therapists treating survivors of extreme and organized abuse. If one is a therapist, they may recognize some of these in themselves, and if they are a client, countertransference happen all the time, even within a good therapeutic relationship. All therapists are human beings, and its reactions to people are formed on the basis of other people they have been known. The attuned therapist feels his or her client's feelings, without being overwhelmed by them. It is much like what happens in a healthy relationship between mother and child, an attunement that allows the child to be understood and to grow up gradually. The attunement is crucial for a good therapeutic connection. The feeling of being in "maternal love" with their clients with little children inside gradually wore off, and was replaced by weariness and anxiety.
