Exam 14: How Can We Help Caregiving and Death Education

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Care providers can sometimes contribute to their own stress and frustration when their own feelings become confused with those of the client. Psychologists recognize this possibility as transference which occurs when clients in psychotherapy are inclined to project their own characteristics or characteristics of other people in their lives onto their therapists, who therefore find themselves intensely loved, hated, or both. Countertransference can also occur when therapists, who are also human, project their moods and motives onto their clients. Transference and countertransference are likely to develop during interactions with life-threatened and terminally ill people. For example, a patient might remind us-not quite consciously-of somebody in our own lives with whom we had a strong emotional attachment who also died. Our own hidden anxieties about death might also force themselves into our caregiving activities. The result can be unfortunate. Understanding these concepts can further protect professionals against burnout or feelings of frustration, helplessness, and anger that might arise when assisting particularly difficult clients or grieving individuals.