Clinical Reasoning and Authentic Clinical Care : The Role of Counter transference

In the mental health sector it is the biggest and most important task of the psychiatrist, psychotherapist or interviewer to make a diagnosis that most closely approximates the inner condition of the patient in order to induce proper therapeutic and psychiatric treatment. In the field of mental illness however, this is often very challenging due to the fact that there are feelings, dynamics and experiences that are central to the mental condition of the patient but cannot be verbally communicated. Especially in the field of trauma, these issues become visible since traumatizing experiences often cannot be remembered. There are varying paths to diagnosis and treatment in the mental health sector differing in method and setting, however they all consist of some sort of assessment in the context of an interaction between mental health professional and patient. We argue that in order to achieve a proper diagnosis and treatment for psychic illness, the interaction between patient and therapist has to be taken into account to facilitate an understanding of internal dynamics