How to counsel and cope with hysterical patients?

For hysterical patients, it is necessary to maintain neutrality and restraint during treatment, maintain the boundaries of treatment, and avoid making suggestions, because making suggestions may damage the patient's already fragile self-esteem, make the patient feel inferior and ashamed, and aggravate the patient's sense of powerlessness.

Their sense of ego shallowness tends to make the therapist despise the patient, which is something we need to avoid.

We can try to understand that they don't mean to express their emotions in this way, but simply because they have to exaggerate to show their sexual attraction to gain recognition. We need to understand patients and respect their feelings.

Since most hysterical people are women, I think male therapists are especially difficult to avoid being seduced. For female therapists, how to cope with competition is a key issue.

I'm curious about what a male hysterical person would look like, and what a female therapist's countertransference would look like for this.

But I think, culturally, even if they're articulate, they're less likely to be seduced by a vulnerable man, unlike male therapists who treat female patients, who may be used to protecting vulnerable women to show their strength.

Author: Yu Wei, Psychological Counselor of Xinxin Network

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