The Wounded Healer Counter-Transference from a Jungian Perspective

Though countertransference--what "really" happens in the internal world of the analyst--is considered by many to be the core issue in depth psychology and psychoanalysis today, there have been few extended studies of the process. "The Wounded Healer" candidly presents the therapist's countertransference struggles in an ongoing fashion, and shows how the analyst is, as Jung said, "as much in the analysis as the patient."
Jung was one of the first analysts to stress the therapeutic potential of countertransference. "The Wounded Healer" extends Jung's ideas to create a dynamic view of countertransference processes. It stresses the importance of the analyst's own woundedness and how this may be used to aid the patient.
Beginning with a discussion of the need and justification for a Jungian approach to countertransference, the book reviews Jungian theories and presents detailed illustrations of cases, showing the complexity of the processes in both the patient and analyst. David Sedgwick concludes with a model of countertransference processing. "The Wounded Healer" will be particularly important for all clinicians and students interested in the struggles of the therapeutic process.

Countertransference is an important part of the analytical process. It is concerned with the analyst's emotional response to the patient. As such, it can be a particularly difficult aspect of the analytical setting and especially so because of the threat of possible sexual involvement with the patient. At present there is little available on this difficult topic. Jungian analyst David Sedgwick tackles the subject bravely and shows how to use the countertransference in a positive way. The result is one of the finest Jungian clinical texts of recent years.

Acknowledgements. Introduction. Jungian Approaches to Countertransference: A Review. Case Illustrations. Conclusions. Notes. References. Index.