countertransference
nounUK /kaʊntətɹansˈfəːɹəns/
Etymology From counter- + transference, a calque of German Gegenübertragung.
1
The transference of a therapist's own unconscious feelings to their patient; unconscious or instinctive emotion felt towards the patient.
- ‘She had a very unusual, difficult childhood. I guess, what with her history and all, she brings out these fatherly feelings of countertransference in me.’2005, Meg Wolitzer, The Position, Vintage, published 2012, page 94:
- In my meeting with Dahlia, I found myself having a private countertransference thought which I certainly did not articulate to her.2007, Brett Kahr, Sex and the Psyche, Penguin, published 2008, page 295:
- Derived terms
- countertransferent, countertransferential