Countertransference
Countertransference is when a therapist unconsciously projects their own unresolved feelings or past conflicts onto a client, often triggered by the client's behavior.
Countertransference is the unconscious set of feelings, attitudes, and reactions a therapist or clinician experiences toward a client, often triggered by the client's material or personality. Rooted in psychoanalytic theory, it arises when the therapist's own unresolved conflicts or past experiences are projected onto the therapeutic relationship, potentially hindering treatment if unmanaged.
What this means in real life
A therapist notices they feel unusually protective of a client who reminds them of their own sibling. This protective feeling—the therapist's countertransference—can reveal something important about the dynamic if the therapist recognizes and reflects on it rather than acting on it unconsciously.
What it isn’t
It is not the client's projection onto the therapist (that is transference). Countertransference is specifically the therapist's own emotional experience, not a mirror of the client's feelings or a sign the therapist is doing something wrong.
Commonly misused online
Often flattened to mean 'any time a therapist has feelings about a client,' when it actually refers to feelings rooted in the therapist's own unconscious material. People sometimes use it to dismiss therapy ('your therapist has countertransference, so they're biased') without understanding it's a normal, analyzable part of the work.