title: Patient personality and therapist countertransference.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive and critical examination of the empirical literature about the relation between patient personality and therapist countertransference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The therapist's countertransference can play a crucial role in psychotherapy outcomes, especially in the treatment of personality disorders. The therapist's emotional responses to patients can accomplish the following: inform the clinician about the patient's personality, impact therapy outcome, influence patient resistance and elaboration, mediate the influence of the therapist's interventions and influence therapeutic alliance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the last years, several studies have empirically demonstrated the presence of a specific pattern of therapist responses that are related to different patient personality disorders. Other works showed how the effects of the therapist's technique depend on the emotional context in which they are delivered and in particular countertransference experiences. Moreover, researchers suggest that the therapist's emotional responses occur across all kinds of therapy and are independent of the therapist's theoretical preferences.
authors.affiliation: Human Science Department, University of Urbino 'Carlo Bo', Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colli
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferri
mesh_terms: D003379:Countertransference; D036262:Empirical Research; D006801:Humans; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy