Student’s Initial Post-Ethics and Standards in Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Response to Amanda Hill’s posting
Counselors face challenges such as conflict of interest that are problematic to countertransference when working with diverse populations. However, they must establish actions and behaviors ethical for their professional practice when using the Interpersonal Psychotherapy approach (American Psychological Association, 2017). Countertransference is effective when used appropriately, but it can become unhealthy if the counselor his unresolved emotions onto the clients .if the therapist’s boundaries are not clear, he has a high chance of not remaining objective. As a result, he might react to the clients’ transference with bias. Countertransference happens when therapists lose their objectivity; thus, they become angry, overwhelmed, or bereft when listening to the client. (Loewenthal, 2018). In such cases, the counselors push their clients to deal with the trauma they may have experienced even if the clients are not ready to do so. Due to the same reason, counselors may discourage clients from expressing themselves, arguing it is not yet time. For example, when a counselor is recovering from being abused as a child or being neglected as a child finds herself in a professional incident where she has to confront her abuse experience of the past, she may develop feelings that inhibit her ability to assist her client. Fortunately, several methods prove essential for therapists struggling with countertransference. First, therapists can apply self-reflection and regular self-care to minimize compassion fatigue and the inability to remain focused. Second, therapists can deeply explore their feelings towards their clients to determine ways in which they are unconsciously reactive or defensive (Teyber & Teyber, 2017). Finally, therapists can establish clear boundaries regarding acceptable session behavior. With such, counselors need to be aware of how their unresolved emotional issues influence transference as well as countertransference issues.