Effect of diagnosis on countertransferential responses to child psychotherapy patients

Examined the impact of patient diagnosis on countertransferential responses to hypothetical latency-aged child psychotherapy patients meeting criteria for Dysthymia, Conduct, and Borderline Disorders. Three subtypes of countertransference (CT) were measured: positive (e.g., nurturant feelings), negative (e.g., boredom), and CT-related activity (e.g., tendency to refer patient to another therapist). All three subtypes were found to vary significantly as a function of diagnosis. Of the three diagnostic groups, Dysthymic patients elicited the highest degree of positive CT; Conduct Disorder patients, the highest degree of negative CT; and Borderline patients, the highest degree of CT-related activity. Neither patient and therapist gender nor therapist experience was significantly related to any of the CT scores; however, therapist psychological distress was found to be significantly associated with negative CT and CT-related activity for all three diagnoses.