An anatomy of countertransference: staff reactions to difficult psychiatric hospital patients. 1986

D B Colson, and J G Allen, and L Coyne, and N Dexter, and N Jehl, and C A Mayer, and H Spohn

Countertransference among hospital staff was investigated as part of ongoing research on difficult-to-treat psychiatric hospital patients. Staff's ratings of their emotional reactions to 127 patients on long-term units were analyzed by factor analysis, and the resulting factors were correlated by discipline with patient problem behaviors. Among the conclusions were that different forms of psychopathology elicit characteristic patterns of emotional reaction from staff; that some dimensions of psychopathology, particularly suicidal-depressed behavior and violence-agitation, elicit different emotional reactions among different disciplines, thus laying the groundwork for division among staff; and that the more difficult the process of hospital treatment, the more likely staff will experience a variety of emotions.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009723 Nurse-Patient Relations Interaction between the patient and nurse. Nurse Patient Relations,Nurse Patient Relationship,Nurse Patient Relationships,Nurse-Patient Relation,Patient Relations, Nurse,Patient Relationship, Nurse,Patient Relationships, Nurse,Relations, Nurse Patient,Relations, Nurse-Patient,Relationship, Nurse Patient,Relationships, Nurse Patient
D009788 Occupational Therapy Skilled treatment that helps individuals achieve independence in all facets of their lives. It assists in the development of skills needed for independent living. Ergotherapy,Therapy, Occupational,Ergotherapies,Occupational Therapies,Therapies, Occupational
D011369 Professional-Patient Relations Interactions between health personnel and patients. Contacting Clients,Pharmacist-Patient Relations,Professional Patient Relationship,Client, Contacting,Clients, Contacting,Contacting Client,Pharmacist Patient Relations,Pharmacist-Patient Relation,Professional Patient Relations,Professional Patient Relationships,Professional-Patient Relation,Relation, Pharmacist-Patient,Relation, Professional-Patient,Relations, Pharmacist-Patient,Relations, Professional-Patient,Relationship, Professional Patient,Relationships, Professional Patient
D011570 Psychiatry The medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.
D002605 Character In current usage, approximately equivalent to personality. The sum of the relatively fixed personality traits and habitual modes of response of an individual. Characters
D003379 Countertransference Conscious or unconscious emotional reaction of the therapist to the patient which may interfere with treatment. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.) Countertransference, Psychology
D004644 Emotions Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties. Feelings,Regret,Emotion,Feeling,Regrets
D005260 Female Females

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