This is a great point.

It seems that a lot of therapists will go 'quiet' once the client mentions their own transference. This might be because it's important to allow the client to guide the conversation about the client's own feelings and the T will not want to interject or interpret too much for them.

But if the T can acknowledge that countertransference is a real thing and that the therapy process as a whole relies on a dynamic — This gives the client more agency, I think.

For example, sometimes if I'm feeling, let's say, extra needy I know for a fact that my T responds picks up on that sometimes before I do. She might respond in a certain way, e.g., offer a hug or a pat on the back, because as she says, "That's the energy I was getting from you." This is T being human. Her job relies on her human empathy to detect that need and respond to it. However, it's also her job to detect that response in herself before she expresses it and to guide her own response in a professional and helpful manner that enables me to take care of myself.

A better example might be if T decides to disclose a personal anecdote about something that my Personal Need reminds her of in her own life history. The feeling that my issue stirs up in her is Countertransference, but she can user her own feelings to better understand what I might be going through and what I might need. She just has to be cautious in her response, making sure her anecdote is appropriate and keeping the emphasis on my need, not hers.