Countertransference When Counseling Suicidal School-Aged Youth (IN: Suicide Prevention in Schools, ed. by A A Leenaars & S Wenckstern)

The feelings a counsellor has towards a patient (i.e. countertransference) are the focus of this article. Freud’s definition of countertransference is provided, as well as the effect of suicidal patients’ aggression & anxiety about death on therapists. The author also explores the urge to abandon suicidal patients, & the use of defensive maneuvers by counsellors to fend off unpleasant feelings brought up by this difficult therapy process. (VM)