Terror in the countertransference: extreme anxiety as a clinician and organisational leader and its effects

Abstract

Experiencing fear is a central feature of managing disturbed states of minds. In this paper, I will describe the experience of being terrified by a patient who was overtaken by extreme anxiety. Aetiologically, I will suggest that the lack of containment created terror in her mind. I will also describe my experience of leadership in a voluntary organisation. Using Hopper’s concept of a fourth basic assumption, I will highlight the omnipresence of annihilatory anxiety in an example of organisational trauma. I will suggest that focusing on the issues of countertransference, working through experiences of being terrorised and paying attention to how you emotionally respond are crucial to lessening terror.