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Transference, Countertransference, and Mutuality in Relational Social Work with College Students

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Abstract

The college experience represents a major life transition from adolescence to adulthood, which is often fraught with challenges in relationships, identity formation, and communal belonging. Steady generational changes in self and relational identity have led to younger generations that increasingly embody a more interpersonal and less individualistic conception of the human person, with less rigid norms and greater openness to diversity. These characteristics make college students an appropriate target population for interpersonal psychotherapies based on mutuality of process. Relational therapy is a particularly fitting treatment modality for college students, as it focuses on these very qualities. This article reviews the current literature on relational theory in psychological and social work practice, describing its principal tenets and concepts, and applying this theory to clinical work with college students to reveal applications for constructive practice with this population.

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  1. Child and Family Services Agency, Washington, DC, USA

    Zachary G. Shaeffer

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  1. Zachary G. Shaeffer
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Correspondence to Zachary G. Shaeffer.

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Shaeffer, Z.G. Transference, Countertransference, and Mutuality in Relational Social Work with College Students. Clin Soc Work J 42, 13–21 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-013-0468-8

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