Inledning: Det finns få forskningsreferenser när det gäller psykoterapeuters känslomässiga och kroppsliga reaktioner i patientarbete. Denna tematiska forskningsanalys utgår från psykoterapeuter som arbetar med personer som lider av trauma, då tidigare studier visar på kraftfulla kroppsliga och känslomässiga reaktioner i arbetet med denna målgrupp. Syftet med studien är att belysa hur psykoterapeuter beskriver sina upplevelser, negativa såväl som positiva, och hur de hanterar dem. Frågeställningar: Hur beskriver psykodynamiskt inriktade psykoterapeuter sina kroppsliga och känslomässiga reaktioner i arbetet med traumatiserade patienter? Hur hanterar de sina egna reaktioner? Metod: Fem legitimerade psykoterapeuter med psykodynamisk utbildning i Sverige och som arbetar med patienter med trauma har intervjuats. Till studien valdes en kvalitativ forskningsansats som bearbetades utifrån en tematisk analysmetod. Resultat: Psykoterapeuterna beskriver svårigheterna att möta det ofattbara våldet i patienternas berättelser, hur de skyddar sig, hur de bär hoppet, hur de kan stå ut och hur de kan använda sina reaktioner i terapin. Här lyfts också konsekvenser för dem och behovet av återhämtning. Diskussion: Resultatet diskuteras utifrån de teoretiska begreppen motöverföring, projektiv identifikation, härbärgering och trauma. Terapeuternas reaktioner bekräftar tidigare forskning av kroppsliga och känslomässiga reaktioner och diskuteras utifrån den omfattande påverkan reaktionerna har på terapeuterna yrkesmässigt och för privatliv. / Introduction: There are few research references on psychotherapists physical and emotional reactions in the patient work. This thematic analysis is based on psychotherapists who work with people suffering from trauma, as previous studies indicate powerful physical and emotional reactions in the work with this target group. The purpose of the study is to illustrate how psychotherapists describe their experiences, both negative and positive, and how they handle them. Questions: How do psychodynamic psychotherapists describe theirphysical and emotional reactions in the work with traumatized patients? How do they handle their own reactions? Method: Five licensed psychotherapists with psychodynamic training in Sweden working with patients with trauma were interviewed. This qualitative researchapproach was processed with a thematic analysis. Results: Psychotherapists describe difficulties facing the unimaginable violence in the patients' stories, how to protect themselves, how they carry hope, how they can cope with it and how they can use their reactions in therapy sessions. It also highlights the consequences regarding themselves and the need for recovery. Discussion: The result is discussed from the theoretical concepts of countertransference, projective identification, containment and trauma. The psychotherapists´ reactions confirm earlier research of physical and emotional reactions, and isbeing discussed out of the wide impact the reactions have on psychotherapists´ professional and personal life.

Background: Compassion-fatigue is a condition which therapists are forced into as a consequence of the nature of their work. The phenomenon has historically, and to some extent currently, been described as secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress and burnout. The goal of this paper is to bring clarity as to what the phenomenon is and how it has been used in research, how common it is, what factors have been identified in the research that increase or decrease risk of developing it and lastly if any attempts have been made to develop a specific approach in preventing and/or treating the condition. Method: This current paper is a scoping review with a systematic approach.12 published studies, quantitative and qualitative in nature, were included and passed for review. Results: The result of the review indicates a deficit in data regarding prevalence of the phenomenon in the population and a general lack of randomized and experimental data. Most of the published studies were exploring psychologist experiences and secondarily attempting to identify factors predicting the development of compassion-fatigue. In conclusion, the phenomenon, regardless of what term is used, seems to be clearly delineated from conditions more akin to exhaustion and depression. Discussion: According to this study compassion-fatigue seems to be a condition that is sparked by the extraneous use of one’s empathic abilities past a tolerable point. Increased exposure by psychologists to work with patients with trauma may increase the risk of developing compassion-fatigue. It is still unknown what the mechanisms are that causes the condition and its prevalence among the population and further research, preferably randomized and experimental with comparison groups, is needed in order for this area to be fully mapped and explained.