Final answer:
Countertransference is falsely equated with the concept of displacement; it actually refers to a therapist's unconscious emotional reactions to a client based on the therapist's own personal history. Therapists use metacognition to manage these reactions professionally.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that countertransference occurs when the therapist shifts attitudes or feelings from their personal past onto the client is false. Countertransference, in psychotherapy, refers to the situation where therapists begin to transfer their own feelings onto the patient. Rather than displacing feelings or behaviors as described in the term displacement, which involves redirecting emotions from a 'real' target to a 'safer' one, countertransference is a therapist's unconscious emotional reaction to the client based on the therapist’s own past.
Instead of acting on these feelings, therapists are trained to recognize when countertransference is occurring and to use metacognition to reflect on the source of these emotions. They work to manage these emotions in a professional manner without allowing them to negatively impact the therapeutic relationship or the client's treatment.