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Transference and countertransference in trauma therapy
Understanding therapeutic attachment dynamics and managing countertransference in trauma work
This trauma training explores how transference and countertransference reactions influence therapeutic attachment, treatment outcomes, and the wellbeing of professionals working in trauma-focused therapy.
Led by Ian Robertson, participants will examine how empathic engagement, trauma reenactment, and the dynamics of clinical attachment shape the therapeutic relationship. The training also addresses the emotional impact of trauma work on professionals, including vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue.
Learning objectives:
- The manifestation of transferences and countertransferences
- “Use of self” as an approach and yet the challenges and even risks with this approach
- The historical evolution to the understanding of countertransference as a concept
- Overview of Transference Reactions and PTSD
- Overview of Countertransference Reactions – Type 1 & 2
- The benefits and messiness of empathy in the clinical work from a TR/CTR lens
- Empathic Strain including withdrawal, repression, enmeshment, disequilibrium and overidentification
- Power of healthy clinical attachment from a TR/CTR perspective
- Trauma Reenactment Syndrome
- The countertransference “traps” in the treatment of trauma
- Overview of strategies for the helping professional to recognize, contain & heal event counter-transferences
Reserve your spot now to learn strategies for recognizing, managing, and responding effectively to countertransference reactions while maintaining ethical and sustainable trauma-informed practice.
Please note: This webinar is module 1 of the Certificate in trauma counselling for mental health professionals: Level 2 advanced clinical training, however; participants can also register for it as a stand-alone training to enhance their knowledge and clinical skills in trauma counselling.
