The Use of the Countertransference in Psychotherapy Supervision

Goin and Kline (1976), in a recent study, have shown that the majority of psychotherapy supervisors either ignore completely the countertransference emotions of their supervisees or else approach them with extreme circumspection. These supervisors adopt this almost phobic attitude towards the countertransference out of a concern that they may, from their position of authority, inappropriately intrude into the personality and inner life of the student-therapist, or they fear that supervision may turn into psychotherapy. A minority of supervisors, however, do routinely use the countertransference of the student in supervision in a way that is helpful for the student and no difficulties arise. For most supervisors the student's countertransference seems to be a Pandora's box they fear to open, while others can “rush in where angels fear to tread” and, mysteriously, the feared consequences never materialize. After demonstrating that this is the case, Goin and Kline do not go on to explain how one can and should use countertransference data in supervision. The purpose of this paper is to do just that: to offer guidelines for utilizing the countertransference in supervision and to describe the rationale behind these suggestions.

In this paper, countertransference is defined as whatever the therapist feels in relation to his patient, without implying anything about the origins of those feelings. Upon analysis, each countertransference experience will be found to be both a response to the patient and a reflection of the therapist's personality. The relative importance of each component will vary from instance to instance,