Early Childhood Mental Health Treatment: Training Reference Guide

Fact Sheet
Personal Well-Being
• Factors that cause stress:
unmanageable caseloads
excessive paperwork/completing work in non-scheduled work hours
prolonged exposure to complex cases
juggling too many roles and demands at once
unrealistic expectations of self
work in unsafe family environments
highly dependent/needy clients
exposure to violence, threats or other traumatic events
inadequate supervision and support
• The “cost of caring” is high (Figley, 1995. 1999) for service providers who use themselves
as a therapeutic tool (Johns, 2000). Emotions evoked in the work with families
and young children have to be recognized to enable the work of the professional to be
effective. Key issues in early childhood mental health treatment are:
Transference - The client becoming unconsciously engaged in a relationship with
the clinician which duplicates a primarily relationship in their lives (parent, abuser,
spouse, etc.) They act and react to the professional as if they were that person.
Counter-Transference - The professional becomes unconsciously engaged in the
client relationship in a way which duplicates a primary relationship in the professional’s
life (ie. Parent, child, sibling, boss, spouse, etc). They act and react to the client as
if they were that person.
Signs of Counter-Transference include:
- overidentification with either the parent or child.
- strong affect towards the client, (anger, compassion, guilt, rejection etc) This is
usually the key sign which prompts the professional to explore countertransference
as an issue.
- feeling “stuck” and unable to move forward
- feeling overwhelmed
- having a difficulty being clear about the case when discussing it
cont’d...
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