[Specific countertransference experience and interpersonal problem description in psychodynamic psychotherapy]

In psychodynamic psychotherapy, countertransference and its professional use is seen as an important means to identify central difficulties of patients. The present study examines the correspondence of countertransference and interpersonal difficulties in 30 therapist-patient couples in day hospital psychodynamic psychotherapy. Interpersonal problems were recorded using the inventory of interpersonal problems (IIP) and countertransference was measured using the impact message inventory (IMI). Correspondence was measured as the correlation of IIP data from the patients and IMI data from the therapists. Data were collected at the start of therapy, after 4 weeks of treatment, and at the end of treatment. Over the course of the therapy, an increase in the correspondence of interpersonal problems as reported by patients and countertransference could be observed, starting with r = 0.22 at the beginning of therapy and continuing through r = 0.47 after 4 weeks to r = 0.58 at the end of therapy. The mean correlation was slightly above that of a control group of 20 nonclinical couples associated for at least 6 months.