Como Una Flor: A Self-Reflexive Experience of Countertransference, Enactments, and Culture
Keywords:
trauma, transference, culture, LatinoAbstract
This composite, self-reflexive clinical case study chronicles the complexities of a multi-contextual relationship between an undocumented Latina client and myself, the author and her reunification therapist. Individuals who experience trauma are often left with unresolved wounds that create layers of suppressed emotion. If these suppressed emotions are not healed, they can lead to unhealthy relationships and even, consciously or unconsciously, harmful responses that create re-victimization. Therapists often guide trauma survivors through this journey with support, education, and enactments. Many clinicians make the mistake of bracketing themselves out of this journey, which inevitably elicits counter-transferential reactions as a result. The importance of cultural influence is frequently reduced to language and broad cultural idioms. The therapeutic relationship within this case study, however, challenges the traditional practices of boundaries and enactments and further complicates my parallel journey as an early-career clinician who awakens my clinical expansion from my internal thoughts and a client’s evolution.
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NARRATIVES OF PROFESSIONAL HELPING
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