Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-58).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-84).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-126). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Marriage and Family Therapy, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [54]-57).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Psychology))--Rhodes University, 2005. / "A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychotherapy" -T.p.

Thesis (doctoral)--La Salle University, 2005. / ProQuest dissertations and theses ; AAT 3227730. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-37)

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The purpose of this study was to explore how personal therapy influences experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists’ ways of being clinicians, and, by implication, their professional development. A hermeneutic research method, which also drew upon aspects of grounded theory methodology, was therefore devised to explore and examine how personal therapy and professional practice relate to each other and to the therapist’s development, and to deepen this descriptive account into a more differentiated and theoretically viable understanding. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychodynamic psychotherapists who were working as clinicians and who were concurrently in therapy. Keeping the research objective in mind, a list of questions was developed from the interview material through which the data was re-read and edited. In accordance with the aims of the study, and as suggested by the results of the initial phase of the textual analysis, intersubjective theory, mainly that of Jessica Benjamin, was used to generate a conceptual framework through which the interview material was further interpreted. This foregrounded the shifting power distributions and the varying processes of identification between the treating therapists and the participants. The Jungian notion of the wounded healer was intersubjectively reconfigured as indicating a therapist whose (often unacknowledged) needs and vulnerabilities engender a proclivity to relate to patients as objects rather than subjects. The participants could all be described as having started out their professional lives as wounded healers. The effects of personal therapy on their clinical work were conceptualised in terms of increased abilities for subject-to-subject relating. These were linked to augmented capacities for reflective and symbolic thinking and an enhanced openness to the implicit, unformulated and opaque aspects of experiences in the therapeutic space. Finally an intersubjective model of personal therapy and development as a therapist was generated. It was concluded that because of the focus on the therapeutic relationship as the vehicle for change in psychodynamic psychotherapy, as well as the current increasing emphasis on the use of the therapist’s subjectivity, the therapist’s capacity to engage in and sustain subject-tosubject relating and, by implication, the therapist’s personal therapy, are of pivotal importance for all therapists doing the work of psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Honest communication between therapists and their clients is an essential part of good psychotherapy. Previous research has examined the impact of dishonesty on the part of the client; however, the topic of therapist dishonesty has remained virtually unexplored. This study examined the prevalence, motivations, and perceived consequences of therapist dishonesty as part of the psychotherapy process. Specifically, the present study asked therapists to report the topics about which they are more and less likely to be less than completely honest with their clients in session and looked for common characteristics among therapists who reported being more frequently dishonest with their clients. Therapists’ reported motivations for and perceived consequences of dishonesty with their clients was also examined. Findings revealed that the vast majority of therapists report having been dishonest with their clients at least once and that therapists are significantly more likely to engage in covert dishonesty than overt dishonesty. Most therapists described using dishonesty in service of their clients’ therapy or wellbeing and with no perceived negative consequences. Novice therapists reported using dishonesty with their clients more frequently than therapists with more years of experience. The use of dishonesty and its relationship to therapist disclosure, clinical tact, and the role of hope in psychotherapy is discussed. Directions for future research, as well as implications for training programs and ethical guidelines put forth by the American Psychological Association, are discussed.