ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses ideas about countertransference, the clinician’s emotional response to the process of listening. Countertransference is an allied phenomenon in the Reciprocal Resilience process. It represents the clinician’s individual response to the therapeutic situation, the client, and the content of the material in the session. The study of emotional resilience investigates how it is that some people are better equipped to rebound from overwhelming experiences, and grow. Resilience was viewed as a process of growth in response to adversity. Research became about the complexity of the phenomenon and how different systems might impact it. Self-reflection is considered an important component of Reciprocal Resilience. The concepts of vicarious trauma and vicarious or Reciprocal Resilience highlight the reciprocal relationship that can occur between clients and clinicians. Vicarious trauma represents an alteration in the inner experience of the clinician resulting from empathic listening to their clients’ traumatic stories. It occurs as a process of accumulated stress over time.
