In the countertransference relationship, the patient puts something into the therapist which the therapist experiences as his or her own. Essay on The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Therapist by W. W. Meissner adapted from the original for the average borderline reader Without question the most important ingredient in the therapeutic matrix is the therapist. The therapist's personality enters into the therapeutic process in a more significant way in the treatment of borderline patients than with any other group of patients, who are continually pushing or pulling the therapist into countertransference positions. Clearly the ideal therapist does not exist, not for any kind of therapy and especially not for the therapy of borderline patients.
All therapists have their relative strengths and weaknesses, their skills and blind spots.
The balance of strengths and weaknesses is often brought into stark relief by the work with difficult borderline patients. The most important strength for therapists undertaking this work is the capacity to remain steady on course despite the howling winds and raging seas that can so readily be whipped up in these patients. The therapist's ability to resist countertransference pulls and to maintain a balanced sense of his own personal and professional identity is what helps provide an environment within which the patient can feel secure. It is also important for the therapist to recognize and accept his own limitations. For none of these patients does any therapist have all the answers.