Emotions and Countertransference

Without the therapist’s openness and responsivity to a client’s emotional experience, counseling and psychotherapy are mechanistic and without compassion. Countertransference is the automatic emotional reaction of a therapist toward a client that occurs within the therapeutic encounter. Cultural background, personal experiences, and socialization contribute to countertransference responses. Values, theories, as well as biases and prejudices, all play a role in the responses and affect the therapy.