Since the discovery of “countertransference”,
it was recognized that the therapist’s personality
plays an important role in determining the course of psychotherapy. However,
systematic empirical works on this topic have been sparse compared to the
enormous amount of theoretical literature. Therefore, in the following pilot
study, the emotional profile of psychotherapists was investigated using the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS), a quantitative measure of the basic emotional
foundations of human personality based on Jaak Panksepp’s
neuro-ethological studies. More specifically, we submitted the ANPS to a
population of Gestalt-therapists to ascertain if they share a characteristic
emotional profile (1) and if the emotional traits of personality are related to
specific intersubjective competences (2). Our results show that, compared with
normal population, the personality of therapists is characterized by higher expression of PLAYFULNESS/joy,
CARE/nurturance and Spirituality, as well as a significant decrease in
the expression of the RAGE/anger disposition. Such emotional traits, that are
not influenced by the experience of training, correlate with important
relational skills such as empathy, reflective functioning and interoceptive
awareness. Therefore, unlearned emotional dispositions have high relevance in
the development of the therapist’s sensitivity to the phenomenological
intersubjective field, a competence recently called “Aesthetic Relational
Knowledge” in a contemporary Gestalt-approach. Our findings may have
implications for training therapists and optimizing treatment outcomes.
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