Frustration, Examination, Appreciation: An Autoethnography of a Psychotherapist’s Work with a Challenging Patient

June Tyson ()
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International Journal of Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 57-68

Abstract: Treating challenging patients can be a rewarding or detrimental experience for a psychotherapist. Countertransference plays a large part of the success of the therapeutic relationship. Countertransference is what gets stimulated in the psychotherapist in response to what the patient is experiencing. Countertransference includes feelings, thoughts, and sensations. If a psychotherapist has not examined his or her own issues of countertransference, the results can be harmful to both the patient and the professional. However, if a psychotherapist is aware of his or her feelings of countertransference, it can be used to bring about growth and development to the patient and the psychotherapist. This article is an autoethnographical account of a psychotherapist’s (my) experience with a challenging patient. It describes how I went through a process of frustration, examination, and appreciation as a result of a conflict between myself and the patient. I used a diary to record my feelings about the patient; this assisted me in confronting my countertransference and ultimately reconciling with the patient and using the experience to bring about healing for myself and the patient.

Keywords: Countertransference; Authoethnographical; Frustration; Examination; Appreciation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D80 D81 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aop:jijoss:v:10:y:2021:i:2:p:57-68

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