Education, study and knowledge

Therapist's emotions

click fraud protection

Your patient with agoraphobia has been on the bus for the first time alone. How you feel?

A patient tells you that the therapy is not working and that he is not coming back. How you feel?

When the patient walks through the door, it reminds you of your partner. How you feel?

Every day, therapists experience a wide variety of emotions, which is part of their work and part of the human condition. In recent years, research is increasingly focused on the emotions that therapists experience during a session with a patient. In addition, contemporary psychological currents place this aspect in a central position in therapeutic work.

  • Related article: "Rapport: 5 keys to creating an environment of trust"

Transference and countertransference

The terms transference and countertransference are two concepts of psychoanalytic origin that, although it seems that they should be applied within this current, for many authors exceed these limits. In this way, today they are present in clinical practice.

In general terms,

instagram story viewer
transfer can be defined as the transfer of feelings and emotions from the person to the recipientWhether it's a friend, your partner, your parent, or your therapist. These emotions are born from the history that the person has lived and that, by forming bonds with other people, feelings and affections are revived.

During a therapeutic session, the psychologist is not immune to the person's transferences and reacts to them with other transferences. This is what is known as countertransference. In this way, the therapist can feel affection, anger, frustration or sadness through what the person is transmitting.

In the therapeutic relationship, both the patient's and the therapist's feelings and emotions are in constant flux. It could be said that it is a kind of dance of emotions that are exchanged during the relationship.

  • You may be interested: "What to expect and what not to expect from psychological therapy"

Do not assume that an emotion is "positive" or "negative"

Studies that have focused on the emotions of the therapist have focused mainly on emotions known as negative: boredom, anger, anguish or sadness. **How ​​does the therapist view each emotion? **

It is common to identify joy as a positive emotion and anger as a negative emotion. However, it is not possible to classify what type of emotion it is without taking into account the therapeutic context.

In this sense, a patient who evokes in the therapist feelings of sadness and affliction can be seen a priori as something negative. However, these emotions are appropriate if the patient is recounting an emotional and moving experience. Likewise, the anger that the therapist may feel at a given moment can be an opportunity to observe what that emotion is indicating and, consequently, perform a more precise intervention.

professionalism of the therapist
  • Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

The professionalism of the psychologist

As has been seen, psychologists are still people and as such, they have feelings. Feeling is something that arises and is inevitable. This does not mean that therapists are carried away by emotions or that they mark the course of therapeutic work..

In this sense, the important thing is what psychologists do with these emotions, that is, how they react when they appear. Emotions and feelings can be very useful and, at the same time, alter therapy and even harm it. It can be said that they are a double-edged sword.

in the profession, psychologists are objective and impartial and the development of therapy will always prevail, fulfilling the objectives and interests of the patient. However, it is possible that sometimes it is difficult to mark this line that divides the professional from the person and that they get carried away by emotion, leaving therapeutic work aside.

In this case, a good professional will choose to refer the patient, thus fulfilling his work. These aspects are included in the Code of Ethics of the Psychologist. For example, in Article 11 it is stated that the psychologist will not take advantage of his situation of power or superiority for his own profit or benefit. Likewise, Article 15 states that "when the psychologist is faced with personal interests conflicting institutional or institutional, he will try to carry out his activity in terms of maximum impartiality".

Finally, it should be noted that it is convenient to maintain a balance between the feelings that may arise in therapy and the professionalism of the psychologist, who will set goals for him in the progress of therapy.

In PsychoAlmería We understand the importance of emotions, both for patients and for professional psychologists who apply therapies. For this reason, we carry out an adequate follow-up of the therapies with regular meetings of the professionals. We have an adequate protocol that guarantees that the people who come to our center receive a therapy adapted and effective in which the attending psychologist is being objective and with adequate regulation emotional.

Author: Sandra García López, psychologist at PsicoAlmería.

Teachs.ru

Managing Anxiety in the COVID-19 Crisis

Anxiety is something normal in anyone without physical or mental health problems, and in fact, it...

Read more

Unwanted loneliness: what is it and how can we combat it

The unwanted loneliness It is a psychological discomfort that affects many people, and that often...

Read more

Psychological consequences of confinement in the face of COVID-19

The first measure adopted by all the governments of the world as a result of the health alert by ...

Read more

instagram viewer