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Chapter Six – Part of a Session – Page 190
There is a beginning to the session, when Bill and Judi let the group know that Kelly,
although present, will not be presenting, and that the plan is to use the space instead to
explore questions that people have that are relevant to the business of the semester. This
is not re-stated, but the tutors seem to assume that the students are by now familiar with
the core aim of integrating theory and practice.
Four students raise issues in response to the invitation. Ron is due to give a presentation
at a conference in his employing organisation on the use of countertransference, and
asks if he can talk about that. Veronica wants to discuss her observation that all of her
clients have Avoidant attachment styles (Holmes, 1997), so she finds herself concerned
with the risk of being too intimate or intrusive with them. Paula has a related question
for discussion, namely how to keep engagement with people who are desperate to get
away. Finally, Frances raises the challenge for her of working in an organisation that is
in chaos, leaving her to find a way to maintain her spirits.
The group proceeds to attempt address these issues in turn. First, the discussion on
Ron’s topic, the use of countertransference, focuses on the uncomfortable balance
between the fear of getting things wrong in disclosure of ones countertransference and
the risk of acting out the countertransferential experience if one is unable to voice it.
Somehow, this discussion does not lead to thought about how this issue is addressed in
the present in the room and in the group as that process is taking place.
Secondly, the discussion moves to the area raised in different ways by Veronica and
Paula, as if the two questions are considered together. Broadly, there seems to be a
frustration in the group with this part of the discussion. Bill and Judi both talk about