ABSTRACT
Research findings and different psychoanalytic conceptions of countertransference are discussed. Particular attention is given to the claim that the therapist’s countertransference feelings and thoughts serve as a reliable guide to the patient’s unconscious mental contents. Research findings discussed deal with a number of issues including the relationship between countertransference reactions and therapeutic outcome and the relatively under-studied issue of individual differences in therapeutic outcome among therapists. I suggest that given its different meanings, it might be wise to relinquish the term “countertransference” and replace it with references to the therapist’s experience of the patient and of the therapeutic relationship.
