Question

During the course of psychotherapy, the therapist has mixed conscious and unconscious feeling towards a patient, this is known as

• A. Transference
• B. Countertransference
• C. Dissociation
• D. Preoccupation

Hint:

Remember who the feelings originate from -- is it the patient's feelings toward the therapist, or the therapist's feelings toward the patient?

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Define the key psychoanalytic terms.

• Transference: The patient redirects feelings, expectations, and attitudes originally held toward significant figures in their past (e.g., parents) onto the therapist. It is a phenomenon originating from the patient.
• Countertransference: The therapist's own emotional reaction -- both conscious and unconscious -- toward the patient. In psychoanalytic theory, this occurs when the therapist projects their own unresolved conflicts and feelings onto the client.
• Dissociation: A disruption of the normally integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception. It is not specific to the therapist-patient dynamic.
• Preoccupation: An absorbing concern with something; not a defined psychoanalytic construct in the therapist-patient relationship.

Step 2: Match the stem to the correct definition.
The stem states the therapist has mixed conscious and unconscious feelings towards a patient. Since the feeling originates in the therapist and is directed at the patient, this is Countertransference (not transference, which flows from patient to therapist).

Conclusion: Although countertransference was historically seen as a therapeutic obstacle, modern psychodynamic theory considers it an inevitable and potentially informative part of the therapeutic process if appropriately managed. The correct answer is B. Countertransference.