ABSTRACT
Countertransference (a reaction that disturbs treatment) is a liability at any time but is particularly a potential when you work with people who argue with their spouses.
THEORY
Countertransference 14 has its roots in the unconscious or preconscious functioning of the therapist, is responsive to some aspect of material from the person you are working with, and interrupts or disrupts the therapeutic process.
Some comments facilitate the therapeutic relationship (“empathic”), whereas some disrupt things (countertransference). In the 21st century, some authors refer to all the therapist's reactions as countertransference, but this dilutes the study of reactions that facilitate versus interfere with treatment.
Important sources of disruption include when the therapist (unconsciously) takes on the attitudes of people in treatment (“concordant identification”) or sides with a person in the lives of people in treatment (“complementary identification”)
