Countertransferential Reflection

My countertransferential (CT) reactions work effectively to help the patient improve his health. According to Counseling Today, “it is tempting for counselors, in an effort to create rapport with clients who are experiencing a profound loss, to reference their own losses and grief experiences, especially if they resemble the circumstances of the client’s loss... Counselors do use their past experiences to help clients get through their grief but not ordinarily by relating to the client the specific incidences or content of the counselor’s experiences. Rather the counselor’s experiences of loss inform the process and pathos of his or her empathy for the client’s specific losses” (2013). By using what I learned from reading this, I was able to help the patient through his loss by using empathy. I did not try to relate the content of my loss to the patient, I just wanted him to see that I empathize with him because I also loss someone close to me. As a result, the patient started to open up with me.
During my check in session with the patient, he would bring up memories of his mother, which he says helps him to feel better. I also encourage him to participate in activities at the nursing home. At first he refused, but later I see that he started to socialize and got to know other patient in the nursing home. He stated that he benefited from the psychiatrist at the nursing home as well as the counseling I provided to him. The nurses, doctor and other staff at the nursing home reported that the patient is starting to sleep and eat better than before. As a result, he is getting stronger and overall his health has started to