In the Context of Differences, Sameness

Abstract

Given as part of a panel exploring “Experiences in Working with the ‘Other’: Psychotherapy and Diversity” at a conference titled Exploring the Diversity of Student Cultures at the Millennium, this paper talks about counselor or therapist anxieties in working with those who seem visibly “other.” One source of such anxiety is the sudden discovery of sameness, or the emotional engagement of unknown similarities between the counselor's own history and the history of the student.

Key Words:

• Countertransference
• therapeutic process
• college students
• difference/sameness