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Abstract
The process of psychotherapy between a hearing therapist and a deaf client has been a largely unexplored area. This paper provides a distillation of the experiences of a hearing therapist who conducted short-term psychotherapy with deaf college students. The focus of the paper is on areas of conflict and important decisions in the beginning phases of therapy that are important for long-term success. The paper consists of two major areas of interest: 1) the communicative process; and 2) early transference and countertransference.
Two primary methods of communication were used with deaf clients: 1) oral with lipreading and partial hearing; and 2) use of an interpreter. Major difficulties with the oral method include partial comprehension by therapist and client, the use of communication problems as resistance, and fatigue with resultant withdrawal. Major difficulties with the use of an interpreter include loss of visual and emotional contact, dilution of transference, and loss of therapist credibility.
Early transference often involves strong mistrust of the therapist as an agent of the hearing world and/or a view of the therapist as magician. Five major countertransferential feelings are: 1) overidentification with the deaf client; 2) avoidance of the client's deafness; 3) fear of client anger; 4) powerlessness to effect client change; and 5) a lack of connectedness and sense of rejection.