Dislikable Clients or Countertransference: A Clinician's Perspective

Abstract

Dislike of one's clients is a problem many clinicians encounter and it can have a drastic negative impact on client-clinician rapport, as well as the intervention outcome. Reasons for dislike can be varied and are not clearly known, as little research has been done on the topic. The purpose of this pilot study was to begin to understand how clinicians experience and navigate dislike for clients in practice. The study yielded critical information regarding the factors that influence dislike and the coping skills utilized by practitioners to counter or ameliorate such feelings. Recommendations for practitioners are provided, including a better understanding of feelings of dislike for one's client outside of the countertransference framework of understanding.

Keywords::

• Disliking clients
• negative countertransference
• challenging personalities
• avoidance
• clinical supervision