Clinicians’ Emotional Reactions toward Patients with Depressive Symptoms in Mood Disorders: A Narrative Scoping Review of Empirical Research

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to narratively review the empirical literature on clinicians’ emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses (i.e., countertransference) to depressive and other symptoms of patients with mood disorders. Therapist subjective responses (countertransference) can negatively affect both diagnostic and therapeutic processes, especially when they are not recognized and managed promptly. However, at the same time, countertransference recognition, processing, and management can help inform the diagnostic process and improve the therapy process and outcome. In the last couple of decades, the number of studies that empirically explore countertransference toward mood disordered patients, as well as its relationship with various characteristics of both patients and treatment, has increased. Current evidence suggests that patients with depression tend to elicit more positive feelings among clinicians than patients with other severe mental disorders such as borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia. Furthermore, it documents the existence of associations between patients’ severity of depressive symptoms and clinicians’ subjective reactions, although the results regarding which specific countertransference patterns are evoked in relation to the different phases of the treatment are not entirely consistent. Lastly, growing evidence suggests the presence of clinicians’ specific emotional reactions towards patients with suicidal ideation and behavior.