The Effect of a Therapist's Pregnancy on a Therapeutic Relationship with an Inmate Charged with Infanticide

Abstract

Summary This paper describes the impact of pregnancy on a therapeutic relationship. It is a personal account, told from the therapist's perspective. Specifically, it discusses the effects of the interaction between the increasingly noticeable pregnancy of the clinician, and the circumstances of the patient: an incarcerated woman charged with the death of a toddler. It explores the psychodynamic changes during the course of therapy due to the clinician's pregnancy and the inmate's crime. The therapist describes an increasingly negative countertransference, while the patient expresses an attitude of superiority over the clinician. It is suggested that the patient identified with the therapist and that both members of the therapeutic alliance were dealing with their own internal struggle with their ability to mother.