Gender mobility in the countertransference: An autoethnographic investigation

Abstract

AbstractAimsThe primary aim of this study was to investigate a psychotherapist's countertransference experience of gender mobility in response to a patient using projective identification to maintain a rigidly defended sexual identity. A secondary aim was to explore the utility of autoethnography as a psychotherapy research method, with a specific focus on understanding the complexities of countertransference experience.MethodThe therapist's experience of gender mobility in response to the deployment and withdrawal of a female patient's projective identification is systematically tracked using thick description of session vignettes and autoethnographic self‐analysis.FindingsAutoethnography provides a viable form of practice‐led qualitative research, particularly useful in exploring countertransference experience. The contribution of the therapist's historical subjectivity and cultural positioning undercuts the asocial depiction of projective identification as largely the patient's creation. The therapist's own gender‐related conflicts are activated and contribute to the patient's projective evacuation of gendered self‐representations. The gendered complexity of the psychotherapeutic interaction defines not only defended identity, but also the therapeutic reclamation of projected self aspects in the course of treatment. Both patient and therapist experience an enlarged repertoire of sex and gender possibilities as a result of successful psychotherapy.Implications for practiceGender mobility in the countertransference experience requires considerable self‐analysis in order to determine the therapist's unconscious contribution to the projective identification process. Awareness of the social context informing the therapist's gender construction can assist in facilitating countertransference understanding. Therapists’ openness to their gendered multiplicity is critical in aiding patients who manifest some form of gender or sexual orientation conflict.