countertransference

UK/kaʊntətɹansˈfəːɹəns/

noun

The transference of a therapist's own unconscious feelings to their patient; unconscious or instinctive emotion felt towards the patient.

OriginGerman Gegenübertragung →
UncommonScrabble 26
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Meanings

nouncountertransference (countable and uncountable, plural countertransferences)

plural countertransferences · alternative counter-transference

  1. countableuncountablepsychotherapyThe transference of a therapist's own unconscious feelings to their patient; unconscious or instinctive emotion felt towards the patient.

    In my meeting with Dahlia, I found myself having a private countertransference thought which I certainly did not articulate to her.

    2007, Brett Kahr, Sex and the Psyche, Penguin, published 2008, page 295
    1 more example

    ‘She had a very unusual, difficult childhood. I guess, what with her history and all, she brings out these fatherly feelings of countertransference in me.’

    2005, Meg Wolitzer, The Position, Vintage, published 2012, page 94

Origin

  1. GermanGegenübertragung
  2. Englishcountertransference

From counter- + transference, a calque of German Gegenübertragung.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

countertransference. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransference

MLA

“countertransference.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransference. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “countertransference,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransference.

Source: countertransference on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.