역전이를 통한 가족상담자의 통찰 체험에 관한 해석학적 현상학 연구 = A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study on the Family Counselors’ Experience of Insight through Counter-transference

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings of family counselors’ experiences of counter-transference and the insights that emerged from these experiences during the counseling process. Family counselors often work with multiple family members simultaneously in contexts where complex interactions, emotional tensions, intergenerational dynamics, and unresolved conflicts become apparent. In this process, counselors do not remain mere observers; rather, they respond emotionally, physically, and cognitively to the pain and conflict within client families. This study was grounded in the assumption that experiences of counter-transference are not merely reactions that interfere with counseling, but may also serve as opportunities for insight that deepen family counselors’ self-understanding and understanding of client families while fostering their professional growth.
This study employed van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The participants were five family counselors with experience in family counseling who were able to reflect on and articulate their experiences of counter-transference and insight. Data were collected through written anecdotes and individual in-depth interviews focused on the participants’ experiences of counter-transference and insight during family counseling. Each participant wrote two anecdotes, and two interviews were conducted with each participant based on these accounts. The collected data were analyzed through repeated reading, the identification and exploration of meaning units, reflective inquiry, free imaginative variation, thematization, and hermeneutic writing.
The findings were organized into 4 major themes, 22 subthemes, and 90 meaning components. First, family counselors experienced “encountering the vortex unfolding before them.” The participants encountered client families embedded in relational fields in which victimization and perpetration, disconnection and dependence, care and control, and silence and aggression intersected. In these contexts, family counselors perceived the pain and conflict of the family as a whole and found it difficult to understand or support any one family member in isolation.
Second, family counselors experienced “counter-transference penetrating the body and mind.” Counter-transference manifested as bodily sensations, overwhelming emotions, sudden thoughts, unintended behavioral impulses, a loss of balance in their role as counselors, and encounters with their own shadows. These experiences were not merely intense emotional reactions, but internal and relational responses that arose at the intersection of client families’ relational dynamics and traces of the counselors’ own life histories.
Third, family counselors experienced the process of “emerging from the vortex and regaining balance.” After being swept up in counter-transference, the participants stayed with and reflectively revisited their counseling encounters, confronted their own shadows, and gradually developed internal criteria for recognizing counter-transference. They also sought support through supervision, conversations with colleagues, and self-reflection, which enabled them to re-engage with client families from a renewed relational perspective. Through this process, counter-transference came to be understood not as an obstacle to be avoided, but as material for reflection that enabled counselors to understand both the relational structures of client families and their own inner worlds.
Fourth, family counselors experienced “becoming a deeply rooted tree that stands firm.” Insight through counter-transference opened the way to a deeper understanding of counseling encounters, enabled counselors to use their own shadows as signals for self-reflection and professional self-care, and helped them recognize opportunities for learning and professional growth. The participants also developed the strength to regain their footing without being easily swept away by family dynamics and expanded their capacity to understand client families. Such insight did not remain at the level of personal realization; rather, it contributed to greater self-understanding as counselors, a deeper understanding of counseling relationships, and enhanced professional maturity.
The significance of this study is as follows. First, it conceptualizes family counselors’ counter-transference not merely as a factor that interferes with counseling or as an individual emotional reaction, but as a multilayered and relational experience that emerges within family counseling encounters. Second, rather than treating counter-transference and insight as separate concepts, this study provides a hermeneutic account of how family counselors experience counter-transference, reflect on it, and develop insight. Third, by illuminating family counselors’ inner experiences as important resources for counseling practice and professional development, this study highlights the need to address counter-transference and self-reflection in family counselor training and supervision. This study offers a perspective that enables family counselors to view the sense of being unsettled that they experience during counseling not merely as evidence of failure or immaturity, but as an experiential pathway toward a deeper understanding of client families and themselves.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서론 1
• 1. 연구의 동기 1
• 2. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 5
• 3. 연구 문제 9
• 4. 용어 정의 9
• 1） 가족상담자 9
• 2） 역전이 10
• 3） 통찰 10
• Ⅱ. 이론적 배경 11
• 1. 가족상담과 가족상담자 11
• 1） 가족상담의 특성과 발전 과정 11
• 2） 가족상담자의 경험과 삶 14
• 3） 가족상담자의 역량 17
• 2. 역전이 22
• 1） 역전이의 개념과 발전 22
• 2） 역전이의 특성과 활용 25
• 3） 가족상담과 역전이 27
• 3. 통찰 32
• 1） 통찰의 개념과 특성 32
• 2） 역전이와 통찰 33
• Ⅲ. 연구 방법 37
• 1. 해석학적 현상학 37
• 1） 해석학적 현상학 37
• 2） van Manen의 해석학적 현상학 40
• 2. 연구자 42
• 3. 연구 참여자 48
• 1） 연구 참여자의 선정 48
• 2） 연구 참여자의 개별적 특성 51
• 4. 연구 설계 및 절차 54
• 5. 자료의 수집 56
• 1） 일화 자료 56
• 2） 면담 자료 63
• 6. 자료의 분석과 해석 65
• 1） 자료의 분석과 해석의 과정 65
• 2） 의미 구조 67
• 7. 연구의 엄격성 73
• Ⅳ. 연구 결과 76
• 1. 눈앞의 소용돌이를 만나다 76
• 1） 피해자이자 가해자 77
• 2） 이름만 가족 80
• 3） 돌봄 받고 싶은 부모, 돌보는 자녀 85
• 4） 우리 아이가 잘못인 거 맞죠? 89
• 5） 선생님, 왜 그러셨어요? 91
• 6） 모두가 병들어가고 있는 전쟁 속으로 96
• 2. 몸과 마음을 관통하는 역전이 101
• 1） 신체로 느끼는 감각 101
• 2） 휘몰아치는 감정 103
• 3） 불쑥 떠오른 생각 108
• 4） 아차, 나도 모르게 110
• 5） 무너진 균형 114
• 6） 순간 드러난 그림자 118
• 3. 소용돌이에서 헤어나며 다시 균형 잡기 124
• 1） 순간에 머무름 124
• 2） 내 그림자를 마주 봄 128
• 3） 레이더를 구축함 132
• 4） 도움을 구함 136
• 5） 새로운 관계로 만나는 가족 138
• 4. 쓰러지지 않을 거목으로 144
• 1） 깊어지는 순간 144
• 2） 정비 신호가 되는 나의 그림자 148
• 3） 상담자로서 누릴 수 있는 혜택 151
• 4） 단단하게 뿌리내리는 나 154
• 5） 품이 넓어지는 나 158
• Ⅴ. 논의 및 결론 165
• 1. 연구의 요약 165
• 2. 논의 167
• 3. 연구의 의의와 한계 및 제언 186
• 1） 연구의 의의 186
• 2） 연구의 한계 및 제언 187
• 4. 연구자의 해석학적 순환 189
• 참 고 문 헌 196
• Abstract 210