The patient's contribution to the therapist's countertransference feelings.
Countertransference feelings of psychiatric milieu therapists toward their patients were studied by using a self-report feeling word checklist. The feelings were scored on subscales of feeling states in a circumplex model. By using an analysis of variance model, comparisons between reactions to patients individually and reactions to patients with different personality organizations and with different Health-sickness rating scale scores could be made. A total number of 244 therapists at 21 small treatment homes were studied. It was found that approximately 15% of the therapists' countertransference feeling reactions could be accounted for by recurrent reactions to patients individually. Surprisingly, the personality organization and the Health-sickness rating scale score of the patient accounted for almost no variance in therapists' feelings. The results are discussed, and possible explanations are evaluated.
Holmqvist
R
R
Department of Applied Psychology, Umeåa University, Sweden.
Armelius
B A
BA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003379:Countertransference; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008884:Milieu Therapy; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011570:Psychiatry; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology