Psychotherapists’ emotional and physiological reactions toward patients with either borderline personality disorder or depression

CASARI, LEANDRO; MESURADO, BELÉN; PUTRINO, NATALIA; ETCHEVERS, MARTÍN

Psychotherapy Research

Society for Psychotherapy Research

Lugar: Pennsylvania; Año: 2019 vol. 29 p. 1 - 8

1050-3307

AbstractObjective: There is a marked difference between the effects of psychotherapy for major depressive disorder (MDD) andborderline personality disorder (BPD), with treatment being less effective for the latter. Considering the importance of thetherapeutic relationship in the prognosis of therapeutic results, some of these differential effects might be explained by thedistinctive reactions that patients elicit in their therapists. The aim of the present research was to characterize therapists?perceptions of their emotional and physiological reactions to patients diagnosed with MDD or BPD. Method: A semistructuredinterview was conducted with 43 clinical psychologists from Argentina with different theoretical orientations.These professionals treated at least one patient diagnosed with BPD and one with MDD during the previous year.Therapists? reactions were categorized through a modified consensual qualitative research analysis. Results: Our findingssuggest that psychotherapists feel emotions of dysregulation with BPD patients and sensations of fatigue with MDDpatients. Conclusion: The results provide some support for the idea that therapists may mirror their patients? internalexperiences.Clinical or methodological significance of this article: The clinical significance is about the psychotherapist´sinteroception (body reactions) in the treatment of patients with different disorders such as borderline personality disorderand major depression. The methodology is qualitative because it allows a better approach to access the perceptions andjudges from therapists.