Counselors' Lived Experiences of Countertransference and Attachment Styles when Working with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

Abstract

There is a consistent lack of understanding of the nature of residential mental health treatment settings. Furthermore, the majority of research that addresses working with serious mental illness (SMI) in the counseling profession is conducted in either an inpatient setting or an outpatient setting. Additionally, while there is extensive research on countertransference experiences, there is a lack of understanding as to the experience of this phenomenon in residential mental health treatment settings. While research has shown the benefits as well as limitations of countertransference, the few studies that have aimed to assess what contributes to countertransference, have identified roots of attachment concerns on the part of the counselor. However, there has been little to no research confirming this possibility. This qualitative phenomenological study utilized narrative inquiry to gain insight into the experiences of counselors actively working in a residential mental health facility. An attachment theoretical framework was utilized for the purpose of this study. Findings suggest that there is a new form of countertransference, defeasance countertransference, in residential mental health treatment settings due to the nature of their design and the work conducted by counselors in this environment. However, further study is needed to assess this possibility. The goal of this study is to provide areas of improvement in counseling supervision, counselor education, as well as a new understanding of what it means to work with SMI in a residential mental health treatment settings.