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Abstract
At times, unexamined cultural countertransference may function defensively for a clinician, surfacing as a clinical problem when it interferes with the client-clinician relationship. As a subjective phenomenon, countertransference is difficult to document, therefore requiring a qualitative approach to research. Through a study conducted by Stampley (1999), it was determined that the origins of clinicians' reactions identified as countertransference are often rooted in the clinician's cultural biases and/or insensitivity to cultural differences. The result may be a lack of empathy with a distorted perception of the client, creating a clinical obstacle that interferes with the therapeutic relationship.
The issues surrounding cultural diversity are increasingly emphasized in schools of social work, in anticipation that greater sensitivity to different cultures will improve clinicians' empathie abilities. While attention to these sensitivities in the classroom may prove helpful in understanding different cultural life styles and values, the question arises as to whether the increased knowledge carries over into practice. Are clinicians aware of how their cultural biases create clinical obstacles that may thwart empathy and interfere with the therapeutic relationship?
A qualitative research project was undertaken in order to better understand clinician reactions to clients from different cultures. A purposive sample of social workers engage in cross-cultural psychotherapy participated in the study. They worked in various practice settings and implemented numerous theoretical orientations. A thematic analysis of seventeen interviews yielded interesting data that clarified the origins of clinicians' reactions to clients from different cultures.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Freud's (1910) classical definition of countertransfcrence focused on the clinician's unconscious and pathological reactions to the patient's transference. he posited that these reactions are endemic experiences that take place in every clinical and client interaction. Kernberg (1965) considers countertransference a result of unresolved conflicts that can and must be overcome if the clinician is to work effectively with the client. These theoretical perspectives raise issues regarding the origins of countertransference and the circumstances when it is likely to occur.
The totalistic definition (Hanna, 1993; Heimann, 1950) includes all conscious and unconscious reactions the clinician has toward the client. From this definition evolved the current perspective known as the moderate perspective (Gelso & Carter, 1985; Gelso & Hayes, 1998; Langs, 1974). The moderate perspective is broader than Freud's (1910) classical...