The therapist's unconscious emotional reactions and responses to a client, often triggered by the client's behavior or the therapist's own unresolved issues. It can either help or hinder the therapeutic process.
Coined by Freud around 1910, adding the prefix 'counter-' (opposite or in response to) to 'transference.' Initially seen as an obstacle to therapy, it's now understood as valuable information about both the client's impact on others and the therapist's own psychological processes.
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