Countertransference in the Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders
Abstract
THE term countertransference has undergone considerable change in meaning in recent decades. Freud (1910/1957) defined countertransference as the emotional reaction of the analyst to a patient's transference. It was seen as the unresolved needs and conflicts of the therapist, often unconscious, which interfered with his/her understanding of the patient. Recently, Abend (1989) chronicled the shift in the definition of the term and noted Kernberg's (1965) more totalistic" description of countertransference. In Kernberg's view, the therapist's reactions have more to do with the patient's often intense transference and with the therapist's capacity to withstand the subsequent stress and anxiety, than with any particular problem from the patient's past. Abend (1989) concluded that most clinicians refer to countertransference in this revised way and used the term quite broadly to denote "all those reactions of the analyst to the patient that may help or hinder treatment" (Slakter 1987, p. 3).
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Clinicians working with AN patients may experience feelings of frustration, anger, hostility, fear, tiredness, a sense of being manipulated, hopelessness, helplessness and failure.
“Clinicians working with those of us who experience EDs such as AN may experience feelings of frustration, anger, hostility and fear, tiredness and a sense of being manipulated, hopelessness, helplessness and failure [181, 185].”
From A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope (2023) · cites this paper as [185]
Feelings of frustration, anger and helplessness toward AN patients may be mediated by clinicians' years of experience working with ED patients and caseload, indicating possible effects of stress and burnout.
“Feelings of frustration, anger and helplessness toward AN patients may be mediated by clinicians’ years of experience working with ED patients and caseload, indicating possible effects of stress and burnout [185, 186].”
From A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope (2023) · cites this paper as [185]
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Clinician Reactions to Patients With Eating Disorders: A Review of the Literature
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- Authors
- Franko, D. L., & Rolfe, S.
- Venue
- Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1996-02
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 108-116
- ISSN
- 0033-2747 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-281X
- OpenAlex
- W1566949383
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 1.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- countertransference, eating disorders, transference, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, therapist emotional reactions, therapeutic relationship
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anorexia, Bulimia, Countertransference, Depression, Female, Humans, Professional-Patient Relations, Psychotherapy, Surveys and Questionnaires
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