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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Gestalt Therapists' Perspectives On Gender In The Therapeutic Relationship : Implications For Anti-Oppressive Practice, Benjamin Philip Borkan
Gestalt Therapists' Perspectives On Gender In The Therapeutic Relationship : Implications For Anti-Oppressive Practice, Benjamin Philip Borkan
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study seeks to explore How does Gestalt therapy training influence therapists in navigating clinical encounters involving gender identity? Gestalt therapists’ responses noted the importance of authenticity, contact, ability to question biases, self-examination, personal responsibility, and the therapist’s sense of their own gender identity privilege and oppression. Gestalt therapy is contrasted with anti-oppressive practice principles, in which there are congruent philosophies between Gestalt therapy and anti-oppressive practice principles. Participants’ and this author’s recommendations for future research include further research on the efficacy of Gestalt therapy training in working with varying identities, as well as gathering perspectives from people of marginalized …
Provider Perceptions Of People Who Inject Drugs And Harm Reduction Approaches, Ciara Devozza
Provider Perceptions Of People Who Inject Drugs And Harm Reduction Approaches, Ciara Devozza
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
People who use injection drugs (PWID) continue to face high rates of death and disease, further exacerbated by the ongoing opioid epidemic. Research indicates that stigma toward this population is high among health care providers, which is shown to result in poor health outcomes and ostracize these high-risk patients from treatment. In the U.S., the dominant substance treatment model is abstinence-based, despite evidence from around the world supporting use of harm reduction interventions which focus on goals to reduce the harmful impacts of drug use to individuals and communities. This quantitative study examined nurses’ attitudes toward PWID and nurses’ receptivity …
Clinician Vulnerability : Openness To Influence In Relational Therapy, Christine Powers
Clinician Vulnerability : Openness To Influence In Relational Therapy, Christine Powers
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The current study examined how clinicians practicing relational psychotherapy experience their own vulnerability in the therapeutic relationship with clients. The study followed a qualitative, phenomenological research methodology. The researcher interviewed ten experienced clinicians who practice relational psychotherapy. Four major themes emerged as significant findings. First, vulnerability was described as a quality of engagement in the therapeutic relationship that is open, engaged, and resonant. Second, participants expressed a sense of risk associated with mutual vulnerability. Third, participants emphasized the importance of mutual vulnerability for client’s healing. Fourth, participants described vulnerability as a developmental capacity. These findings have significance for the field …
Social Class In The Therapeutic Dyad : How Do Clinicians Engage In Dialogue About Class With Their Clients?, Andrew L. Cohen
Social Class In The Therapeutic Dyad : How Do Clinicians Engage In Dialogue About Class With Their Clients?, Andrew L. Cohen
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This exploratory qualitative study surveyed practicing clinicians about their experiences engaging in discussions about social class with their clients. There is little research on the topic of social class in the therapeutic setting broadly and on the topic of broaching social class specifically. As such, this research was an initial attempt to begin to fill this gap in the literature. Twelve mental health clinicians voluntarily participated in an anonymous online survey about their experiences and thoughts about engaging in dialogue about social class with their clients. Results included a pattern in the difference between which clients clinicians discussed social class …
Climate Change On The Therapist's Couch : How Mental Health Clinicians Receive And Respond To Indirect Psychological Impacts Of Climate Change In The Therapeutic Setting, Elizabeth B. Seaman
Climate Change On The Therapist's Couch : How Mental Health Clinicians Receive And Respond To Indirect Psychological Impacts Of Climate Change In The Therapeutic Setting, Elizabeth B. Seaman
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The scientific community has reached near consensus that climate change (also known as anthropogenic global warming) poses a significant and potentially dire threat to the ecosystems upon which we, as humans and as a society, rest. While climate change is most often discussed in terms of its effect on the natural environmental, its psychological impacts are also expected to be immense and varied and include indirect distress related to the threat that climate change poses. The purpose of this study was to explore how this kind of indirect distress gets talked about in the therapeutic setting. Using a mixed methods …
Client's Experiences And Perceptions Of The Therapist's Use Of Swear Words And The Resulting Impact On The Therapeutic Alliance In The Context Of The Therapeutic Relationship, Hollyanne J. Giffin
Client's Experiences And Perceptions Of The Therapist's Use Of Swear Words And The Resulting Impact On The Therapeutic Alliance In The Context Of The Therapeutic Relationship, Hollyanne J. Giffin
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This thesis explores how clients perceive therapist swearing in the context of a therapeutic relationship. This was done via an exploratory, mixed methods research study. Individuals whose therapists had used swear words during their individual therapy were surveyed about their own personal swearing habits, their opinions of swearing and therapist swearing in general, their specific experiences and perceptions of their therapist swearing, as well as demographic information. The majority of the study’s respondents reported that their therapist’s use of swear words had helped their therapeutic relationship. While participants reported they were happy with the frequency and context of their therapist’s …
Shifting Paradigms : The Embodied Intersubjective Matrix, Joanna Wiederhorn
Shifting Paradigms : The Embodied Intersubjective Matrix, Joanna Wiederhorn
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This theoretical thesis traces two paradigmatic shifts currently transforming psychodynamic theory and practice: the shift from a one-person to a two-person psychology and the shift from conscious cognition to unconscious embodied affect. These two shifts support a phenomenological understanding of the clinical encounter as inherently intersubjective and embodied. The concept of embodied intersubjectivity is explored by weaving together relevant literature from the fields of relational psychoanalysis, interpersonal neurobiology, contemporary developmental psychology, and body psychotherapy. The view is offered that, for some clients more than others, developing a deeper connection with one's embodied sense of self, and having that experience recognized …
Clinicians' Experiences Of Personal Wealth : Impacts Within Clinical Practice, Sarah Schwartz Sax
Clinicians' Experiences Of Personal Wealth : Impacts Within Clinical Practice, Sarah Schwartz Sax
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This exploratory/descriptive quantitative/qualitative study surveyed clinicians with wealth about their experiences working with clients who do not have wealth. While there is much research that examines the implications of race-privileged clinicians (i.e., white clinicians) when they work with clients who are race-oppressed (i.e., clients of color) there is very little research on parallel class-based dynamics when the clinician is of a more privileged socioeconomic class than the client. Thus, this research was an initial attempt to fill that gap in the literature. Fifty-four mental health clinicians with wealth voluntarily identified themselves to the researcher via a confidential online tool. Screened …
Exploring Clinicians' Experience Of Countertransference In Play Therapy, Asya Tsarkova
Exploring Clinicians' Experience Of Countertransference In Play Therapy, Asya Tsarkova
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore clinicians' experience of countertransference in play therapy. Through semi-structured individual interviews with twelve clinicians, narrative data was collected on the ways in which clinicians experience, process, and utilize countertransference in play therapy. Some of the findings of this study support previous research and theoretical literature on countertransference in the field of child psychotherapy. Additionally, this study's findings introduce the possibility that specific aspects of play therapy have a unique effect on the experience and processing of countertransference in play therapy due to the nature of this therapeutic modality. Implications for social …
Sharing Our Edges : The Mindfulness Influence On Therapist's Formulation Of Insight, Sonia S. Hsieh
Sharing Our Edges : The Mindfulness Influence On Therapist's Formulation Of Insight, Sonia S. Hsieh
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This inductive qualitative research study explored therapist's experiences of using Mindfulness in session with patients. Through 12 semi-structured interviews with therapists who self-identified as Mindfulness practitioners with a psychodynamic orientation, narrative data was gathered on participant's explicit and implicit uses of Mindfulness within the therapeutic encounter. Major findings revealed that Mindfulness first and foremost attunes the therapist's attention to the body. Therapist's awareness of personal bodily sensations then initiated the therapist's process of understanding disavowed content from the patient. Upon pinpointing the therapist's own bodily sensation, participants then discussed how tenets of Mindfulness informed their therapeutic presence. Qualities of this …
Clinicians' Experiences With Child Clients' Explicitly Stated Love In The Transference, Alexandra L. Shumway
Clinicians' Experiences With Child Clients' Explicitly Stated Love In The Transference, Alexandra L. Shumway
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study explored the experiences of clinicians in responding to their child clients' statements of "I love you." It is clear that this experience is common amongst child therapists, but the literature on this topic is virtually non-existent. While the literature does touch on countertransference, therapy with children, and love in therapy, never has the literature touched on the space in which these three topics come together. In order to explore this void in the literature, this study was completed using a mixed-method, anonymous online survey. Thirty clinicians participated in this survey, which asked clinicians to reflect on the interaction …
Talking About Race : How Do White Clinicians Engage In Dialogue About Race In Cross-Racial Therapy With Black Clients?, Elizabeth J. Hare
Talking About Race : How Do White Clinicians Engage In Dialogue About Race In Cross-Racial Therapy With Black Clients?, Elizabeth J. Hare
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This qualitative study explores how White clinicians engage in dialogue about race in cross-racial therapy with Black clients. Open-ended survey questions were used to gather narrative data from 12 White clinicians who have conducted therapy with Black clients. The central question of this research study is: when, how and why do White clinicians engage in dialogue about race in cross-racial therapy with Black clients? The study investigates how White clinicians think about their choices to broach the subject of race and their perceptions of the therapeutic alliance as it relates to conversations about race and racial difference. It also explores …
Client Perceptions On The Therapeutic Quality Of Care When Disclosing Spiritual And Religious Beliefs : A Mixed Methods Study, Maia Nikitovich
Client Perceptions On The Therapeutic Quality Of Care When Disclosing Spiritual And Religious Beliefs : A Mixed Methods Study, Maia Nikitovich
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The spiritual and religious life of clients is an important clinical factor in therapy; it holds significant meaning and may support therapeutic outcome. This study explored client perceptions of the quality of care they received in therapy when disclosing their spiritual/religious life to their therapists as well as the factors that might contribute to their perceptions of care and disclosure. A total of 75 respondents participated in an online survey tool composed of quantitative and qualitative questions. Qualitative responses were coded and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings showed that most clients (73%) shared some or all of their …
The Dyad Of Colleagues : Transferential Experiences Of Clinical Trainees With Their Personal Therapists And Its Impact On Practice, Aubrey J. Koch
The Dyad Of Colleagues : Transferential Experiences Of Clinical Trainees With Their Personal Therapists And Its Impact On Practice, Aubrey J. Koch
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study was conducted in pursuit of the answer to the following question: what is the experience of transference in the personal therapy of clinicians-in-training and how does this unique therapeutic relationship influence the practice of clinical trainees? This study utilized exploratory qualitative intensive interviews. Participants included individuals who were enrolled in a masters in social work (MSW), counseling, or clinical psychology program; participant had to have aspirations to be a therapist, voluntarily be in personal therapy, and reside in the United States. Questions were designed to draw from subjects their experiences of transference, specifically those that arose as a …
What's Faith Got To Do With It : Clinicians' Experiences Of Addressing Issues Of Religion And Spirituality In Therapy, Lauren Raymond
What's Faith Got To Do With It : Clinicians' Experiences Of Addressing Issues Of Religion And Spirituality In Therapy, Lauren Raymond
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This exploratory, mixed-methods study was conducted to investigate the experiences of clinicians who have both been in personal therapy and practice with clients, to consider the nature of addressing issues pertaining to religion and spirituality, both in the role of client and as clinician. The study sought to explore whether there was any evident correlation between clinicians' experiences in therapy or one's personal spiritual affiliation, or lack thereof, and if and how they approached the discussion of these topics with clients. The research was carried out via an online survey that was distributed to practicing clinicians via direct as well …
Clinicians' Self-Disclosure Of Personal Experience With An Anxiety And/Or Mood Disorder, Emma M. Sando
Clinicians' Self-Disclosure Of Personal Experience With An Anxiety And/Or Mood Disorder, Emma M. Sando
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study used a mixed methods design to examine an emerging field of inquiry in selfdisclosure research, exploring the decisions clinicians make about the disclosure of their personal experiences with an anxiety and/or mood disorder to their clients. The researcher posited that this specific form of non-immediate disclosure might engender unique therapeutic benefits as well as particular ethical and professional dilemmas for practitioners. Forty-nine licensed, clinical social workers participated in an anonymous online survey with quantitative and qualitative components that inquired about their self-disclosure decisions, including the frequency of their disclosures, the types of information they revealed, their perception of …
Mortality Practices : How Clinical Social Workers Interact With Their Mortality Within Their Clinical And Professional Practice, Joseph K. Hovey
Mortality Practices : How Clinical Social Workers Interact With Their Mortality Within Their Clinical And Professional Practice, Joseph K. Hovey
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This quasi-mixed methods, exploratory study examined the mortality practices of clinical social workers. The study sought to understand how clinical social workers interact with their mortality within their clinical and professional practice—whether they have discussions about their mortality with clients, what attitudes they have about disclosing potentially terminal illness to clients, and how clinical social workers prepare for the potential that they may die or become incapacitated during the process of practicing clinical work. While the literature provides robust support for at least some practices, few studies have examined actual practice implementation. The present study explored the attitudes and mortality …
A Historical Study Of The "Use-Of-Self" In Clinical Practice, Eva Tracy-Raeder
A Historical Study Of The "Use-Of-Self" In Clinical Practice, Eva Tracy-Raeder
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of the use-of-self in clinical practice through a historical lens, in order to clarify what is meant by the term, to illuminate the evolution of the concept, and to attempt to reconcile the perspectives of several theoretical approaches. Seven theoretical approaches were examined, they are presented in five sections. The first section examines the Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Sigmund Freud. The second section examines expansions on and departures from the classical position and includes contributions made by Carl Jung and Carl Rogers. The third section highlights three postclassical theories which …
Exploring The Impacts Of Disclosure For The Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Therapists, Samuel B. Lurie
Exploring The Impacts Of Disclosure For The Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Therapists, Samuel B. Lurie
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people face numerous challenges and disparities as members of a marginalized and stigmatized group (Grant, et al., 2011). With the increased visibility of the transgender and gender non-conforming community, there are also more TGNC people becoming professionally trained therapists, and there is a lack of guidance on navigating this particular experience. Four focus groups were conducted in the northeastern part of the United States with 19 total participants who are all Master's level or above mental health clinicians who identify as TGNC. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to examine the experiences of …
Therapists' Experiences Treating Clients With Dissociative Identity Disorder, Alexandra E. Paull
Therapists' Experiences Treating Clients With Dissociative Identity Disorder, Alexandra E. Paull
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The purpose of this exploratory study was to collect qualitative data to examine what social workers describe as their experience working with clients who fit the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This study interviewed twelve licensed therapists through in person, phone, and skype interviews. These interviews explored the experience of their clinical work and its impact on them personally. Seven major themes were identified from coding the narrative data: the challenges and rewards of treatment, characteristics of the population, characteristics of the clinicians, treatment structure, what treating their first client with this disorder was like, misconceptions, and places current …
"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" : The Cell Phone And The Therapeutic Relationship, Rachel C. Gordon
"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" : The Cell Phone And The Therapeutic Relationship, Rachel C. Gordon
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This qualitative study examines the impact of both clinician and client use of cell phone on the therapeutic relationship. Eighteen one-hour interviews were held with clinicians who either used cell phones as tools in their therapy practice or who had clients who used them. Different ways in which clinicians used cell phones as interventions and tools in therapy as well as the varied ways in which clients brought cell phones into therapy to discuss their own lives were examined. Open-ended questions included: affects on the real relationship, the working alliance, countertransference experience, talking on the phone, phone coaching, text messaging, …
The Therapist's Pregnancy And The Client-Therapist Relationship : An Exploratory Study, Elizabeth H. Wolfe
The Therapist's Pregnancy And The Client-Therapist Relationship : An Exploratory Study, Elizabeth H. Wolfe
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This empirical research study explored the impact of the therapist's pregnancy on the therapist-client relationship. Specifically, this study asked whether therapists and clients interact in less professional, more personal ways during the therapist's pregnancy, and how this is perceived by therapists to impact treatment. Relational psychodynamic theory was the theoretical underpinning of this study. Thirteen psychotherapists were interviewed about their experiences of practicing therapy while pregnant. All participants were either currently or recently pregnant. Interview questions were developed by this researcher to elicit therapist experiences with clients who asked personal questions or offered baby gifts to the therapist, and how …
How Do Mental Health Clincians Using Feedback Informed Treatment Methods Create A "Cultural Of Feedback" With Clients?, Alexander H. Tew
How Do Mental Health Clincians Using Feedback Informed Treatment Methods Create A "Cultural Of Feedback" With Clients?, Alexander H. Tew
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study was undertaken to explore how mental health clinicians using feedback informed treatment (FIT) interventions attempt to increase the likelihood of receiving genuine feedback from their clients. Furthermore, the study explores clinicians' perceptions about the ways in which interpersonal power dynamics, including race/ethnicity dynamics, influence the feedback process. An anonymous online survey was posted on two Internet forums for FIT practitioners. A final sample of thirty licensed mental health clinicians completed the mixed methods survey, answering five demographics questions (age, gender, race/ethnicity, years using FIT methods, and nationality) and three open-ended questions. The open-ended questions asked respondents to discuss …
Connecting After Killing : An Exploration Of The Intersubjective Space Between Therapist And Client When Combat Rests Between Them, Alicia L. Simoni
Connecting After Killing : An Exploration Of The Intersubjective Space Between Therapist And Client When Combat Rests Between Them, Alicia L. Simoni
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This qualitative study examines how the psychological dimensions of killing in combat manifest in intersubjective space between civilian therapists and service member clients. The investigation is based on interviews with 10 civilian therapists who provide psychotherapy to combat service members who have killed or think they may have killed in combat. The reality of killing in combat renders most individuals both viscerally and existentially uncomfortable, and thus is often turned away from. Civilian psychotherapists are not immune to this. The aim of this study was to explore how therapists' subjectivities—in the form of conscious and unconscious actions, thoughts, and emotions …
Sin In Therapy : A Cross Disciplinary Approach Toward Working With Religious Clients, Kelli L. Fitzgerald
Sin In Therapy : A Cross Disciplinary Approach Toward Working With Religious Clients, Kelli L. Fitzgerald
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
The United States is a remarkably religious nation. It is inevitable that clinical social workers will encounter clients whose self understanding has been shaped, or impacted, troubled and or soothed by their faith. Our religiously minded clients need us to be able to speak to the questions of deep meaning their faiths challenge and answer. Yet, we are not clergy. We have a different and important role. Moreover we may be atheists ourselves. In addition we live in a religiously pluralistic country. There is no single faith language that can accommodate all religious people. Even if a social worker were …
Beyond The Office Doors : The Relationship Between Psychotherapists' Disclosures Of Personal Life Events And Their Professional Identity, Alana C. Dipesa
Beyond The Office Doors : The Relationship Between Psychotherapists' Disclosures Of Personal Life Events And Their Professional Identity, Alana C. Dipesa
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
Psychotherapist use of self-disclosure is a topic that has been under-researched to date. Stemming from classic psychoanalytic training, the belief that clinicians should strive to be "blank slates" influences many psychotherapists' negative perceptions of their own selfdisclosure. Within this study 12 psychotherapists were interviewed regarding their experiences disclosing personal life events to their clients in order to ascertain what influence, if any, these disclosure experiences had upon their professional identities. Of the personal life events that were described, some were inevitable and unavoidable while others were more intentional in nature; the main types of personal life events that emerged through …
Holding, Attaching And Relating : A Theoretical Perspective On Good Enough Therapy Through Analysis Of Winnicott's Good Enough Mother, Using Bowlby's Attachment Theory And Relational Theory, Lydia K. Borg
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This is a theoretical study in which Winnicott's ideas on the "good enough mother" are analyzed in search of implications for what makes a good enough therapist. Specifically these ideas are explored through the lenses of attachment theory and relational theory with a focus on the work of John Bowlby and Jessica Benjamin respectively. Particular attention is given to the roles of both therapists and mothers in "holding", emotional regulation, protection, and building emotionally facilitative and protective relationships. This paper includes in depth looks at these theories and the ways in which the concepts within attachment theory and relational theory …
Do Clinicians Perceive A Connection Between Their Personal And Professional Habits Of Self-Disclosure? : A Study Exploring Self-Disclosure On Social Networking Sites And In Therapy, Marie H. Desloge
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This qualitative, exploratory study used an interview method to understand if clinicians believed there was any connection between their online self-disclosure on social networking sites (SNS) and offline self-disclosure with clients. Twelve clinicians were asked a myriad of questions to address the perceptions of their disclosures in each arena and any potential relationship between their comfort and frequency to self-disclose online and in therapy. Using a relational theory lens to understand therapeutic self-disclosure, this research adds a new component to current clinical literature on the topic by comparing it to self-disclosure on social networking sites like Facebook. As a whole, …
Forming Therapeutic Relationships With People Living With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Diagnoses, Eliza J. Morgan
Forming Therapeutic Relationships With People Living With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Diagnoses, Eliza J. Morgan
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This study aimed to explore how one attempts to build a therapeutic alliance with someone who is living with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Finding out more about how one attempts to form therapeutic relationship with a client who has symptoms of schizophrenia-spectrum may help provide more insight about the challenges that may arise in trying to connect to these individuals, what mental health workers have found to be barriers and how they attempted to mend any breaks in the relationship, thus adding to literature for further research. A narrative online survey link was emailed to all members on the United States …
Exploring Cultural Competence In Clincial Practice Behaviors, Yolonda M. Young Armstrong
Exploring Cultural Competence In Clincial Practice Behaviors, Yolonda M. Young Armstrong
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
This qualitative research study explores clinical practice behaviors that influence the perceptions of college students' of color regarding cultural competence in the therapeutic dyad. Interviews were used to obtain data from six college students of color in Western Massachusetts who had a history of engagement in outpatient therapy. This study uses Object Relations Theory as a conceptual framework for understanding social constructions of privilege and identity development and as a learning tool for examining interpersonal behavior as a reflection of one's internalized perceptions. More specifically, for this study, Object Relations Theory provides academic context for understanding how external social phenomena …