Countertransference and the multiple amputee patient: pitfalls and opportunities in rehabilitation medicine

Current psychoanalytic literature on countertransference broadly defines the term as a helping professional's overall response to an individual patient. Reactions of rehabilitation professional to their traumatically injured patients can significantly impact on the patient's treatment as well as the individual therapist's and entire rehabilitation team's effectiveness. In this paper, a case is presented illustrating a process of understanding countertransference toward a multiple amputee patient. Implications for the rehabilitation team are also described. The analysis of a single case demonstrates how countertransference interpretation might be used as a vehicle to enhance understanding the patient and promote team effectiveness.