Countering countertransference: a forensic trainee's dilemma.

Abstract

Forensic psychiatry involves an adaptation to a role that is very different from the psychiatrist's previous clinical experiences. To render an unbiased forensic opinion, psychiatrists have to rise above their countertransference feelings. This takes years of practice and experience. The following is an account of a forensic trainee who faced several countertransference problems as he evaluated a patient charged with attempted murder. The case report is interspersed with a review of the relevant literature.