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Mental-health workers are taught to avoid "transference" - allowing a client's traits and behaviors to trigger the clinician's own psychological wounds, distortions, and reactions in a way that hinders effective service or harms the client. The concept of personality subselves suggests why transference happens, and options for reducing it. Premise - each personality subself has its own values, goals, and perceptions of the world. If (1) some of a clinician's subselves are activated by some (perceived) client behavior or traits, and (2) those subselves distrust the resident true Self's wisdom or reliability, they may disable the clinician's Self and cause thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and needs that are professionally inappropriate or harmful. When a clinician is dominated by a false self, s/he is vulnerable to unconscious denials and rationalizations that hinder admitting and reducing transference. Premise - human-service providrs are ethically responsible for (a) monitoring and increasing their true Self's leadership, (Lesson 1); and (b) to use supervision and consultation that support these concepts. Talking about transference will probably raise subselves' anxieties, not in-crease their trust in the clinician's Self (capital "S"). A more productive option is some form of Inner-family ("parts") therapy. |
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