The concept of countertransference is utilized by many mental health practitioners to denote the emotional response of the therapist to doing therapy. Family therapists do not often use the term "countertransference,” and they have, with some exceptions, avoided exploring the emotional response of therapists in both research and training. The purpose of this study was to describe how the concept of countertransference is approached and utilized by beginning family therapists in their efforts to understand and conduct therapy. The participants in this study were five family therapist interns beginning their practicum placement in one AAMFT-accredited Master’s degree program in the campus clinic in August 1993. They attended five hour-long focus group meetings, and were interviewed about two different taped therapy sessions. The results illustrate aspects of the participants’ countertransference experience: the context, the countertransference reactions themselves, the participants’ responses to those reactions, the effect of those responses on the therapist and the therapy, and the participants’ personal equations which they brought to the therapeutic encounter. In addition, the results document the applicability of the concept of countertransference to the experience of beginning family therapists. / Master of Science