THERAPISTS DIFFERENTIAL COUNTERTRANSFERASE REACTIONS TOWARD CLIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION OR BORDERLINE PERSONALITY-DISORDER

The purpose of this study was to examine psychotherapists' differentia l countertransference reactions toward either clients diagnosed with e ither Major Depression or Borderline Personality Disorder. Specificall y, psychotherapists' personal perceptions and emotional reactions to T hese clients were assessed utilizing the Impact Message Inventory and the Stress Appraisal Scale (N = 155). Direct feelings, action tendenci es, cognitive attributions, and perceived anxiety were evaluated. Resu lts indicated that clients with Borderline Personality Disorder are pe rceived as significantly more dominant and hostile, whereas clients wi th Major Depression were considered significantly more submissive, fri endly, and salient. In addition. it was found that as clinicians' year s of experience increased, degree of countertransference decreased. Th ese results suggest that countertransference reactions can be measured empirically, that differential countertransference reactions are evok ed toward clients manifesting different symptoms, and that awareness o f countertransference may be important for positive therapeutic outcom e. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.