Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2009):

Countertransference reactions to adolescents with eating disorders: relationships to clinician and patient factors.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Clinical report suggests that therapists have strong and sometimes difficult-to-manage reactions to patients with eating disorders (EDs); however, systematic research is largely absent. The purpose of this study was to explore the emotional responses, or countertransference (CT) reactions, clinicians experience when working with patients with EDs, and to identify clinician, patient, and therapy variables associated with these responses. METHOD: One hundred twenty clinicians reported on multiple variables related to an adolescent female patient they were treating for an ED. RESULTS: Six patterns of reactions were identified: angry/frustrated, warm/competent, aggressive/sexual, failing/incompetent, bored/angry at parents and overinvested/worried feelings. The factors showed meaningful relationships across clinician demographics, patient characteristics, and treatment techniques. DISCUSSION: Overall, clinician's reactions were most frequently associated with the clinician's gender, patient's level of functioning and improvement during treatment, and patient personality style. These issues have important implications for treatment, training and supervision.

Author information

Author/s: Satir, Dana A (DA); Thompson-Brenner, Heather (H); Boisseau, Christina L (CL); Crisafulli, Michele A (MA);

Affiliation: Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. dana.satir(-atsign-)gmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The International journal of eating disorders (Int J Eat Disord), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 42 (issue 6) : pp 511-21

Dates: Created 2009/08/24; Completed 2009/11/02;

PMID: 19189302, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/2/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa - psychology; therapy Bulimia Nervosa - psychology; therapy Comorbidity Countertransference (Psychology) Female Humans

Personality Disorders - psychology; therapy Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data Professional-Patient Relations Psychometrics Psychotherapy Sex Factors Treatment Outcome

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