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The understanding and approach of trained volunteer counsellors to negative racial sentiments in traumatized clients.Sibisi, Hleziphi 02 March 2009 (has links)
In the current South African context there is a strong likelihood of the occurrence of trauma
incidents that involve people of different races. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this has
contributed to the increased expression of negative racial sentiments by victims of trauma,
especially in crime related trauma, when the perpetrator/s are of a different race group to the
victim. This research study locates itself within the small number of studies that have sought to
engage with the problem of negative racial sentiments as a response to trauma. This study
focused particularly on the observations, explanations and interventions of volunteer counsellors
in having to engage with this content in traumatized clients. The study sought to understand the
impact that the expression of negative racial sentiments had on the process of trauma counselling
and debriefing and on counsellors personally. The research was operationalized within a
hermeneutically oriented qualitative research framework. The participant group was comprised of
11 volunteer counsellors from different parts of Johannesburg and from different organizations.
Participants were chosen through purposive sampling and face to face semi-structured interviews
were used as the method of data collection. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyze
the interview texts. The findings suggest that negative racial sentiments are a commonly
occurring response following a trauma. Counsellors predominantly understand negative racial
sentiments to be part of the trauma symptom pattern, in that they explain such responses as
‘trigger’ reactions. Counsellors also understood the sentiments to represent pre-existing
prejudice, exaggerated and re-evoked by the trauma. The findings indicate that counsellors were
developing and utilizing skills and interventions mainly of their own design in engaging with
negative racial sentiments, as they are generally not trained on how to engage with this content in
trauma counselling. Counsellors use interventions such as normalizing, psychoeducation and
CBT based interventions when they do intervene, but in some cases make a choice not to
intervene. Counsellors reported considerable discomfort and suggested that although case by case
intervention was important, some guidance as to how to work in this area would be useful. The
contextual nature of the problem and related interventions was also highlighted.
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How do psychodynamically oriented therapists understand, respond to, and work with negative racial sentiments amongst traumatized clients?Fletcher, Tracy 06 January 2009 (has links)
This study explored how psychodynamically oriented therapists understand and work with
negative racial sentiments arising in traumatized clients. One of the aims of the study was to
highlight and examine the technical, countertransferencial and ethical dilemmas faced when a
patient brings ‘politically difficult’ material infused with negative racial sentiment to therapy. It
was hoped that information gleaned would contribute to theoretical and technical understanding
of this phenomenon and assist in working with such negative racial sentiments. In order to
investigate the research questions eight therapists who identified themselves as
‘psychodynamically-oriented’ participated in semi-structured interviews on the topic of negative
racial sentiment (NRS) in therapy. The study was located in the qualitative research tradition, and
interview transcripts were subject to a critical thematic content analysis. The main themes were
identified and presented under three sections, namely: how therapists understand, work with and
respond to the phenomenon of NRS in traumatized clients. Understandings included the
formation of NRS as inter alia reflecting the use of defenses such as splitting, projection,
projective identification, the triumph of the bad object and a breakdown in the capacity to
symbolize. Tensions in understanding the phenomenon of NRS post-trauma and related latent
themes were also identified. Therapists’ approaches to working with NRS included the use of a
range of implicit assessment criteria such as, whether, for example, the patient’s response was
experienced as ego-dystonic or ego-syntonic. Technical strategies for intervention included
adherence to a working model, interpretive interventions and cognitive strategies. The
participating therapists’ countertransferential responses to negative racial sentiment were
categorized, taking the form of: negative feeling towards or disidentification from the patient;
negative feeling towards the perpetrator or identification with the patient and therapeutic impasse.
Some guidelines proposed by the participating therapists for managing NRS, as it occurs in
psychotherapy with traumatized clients, are presented.
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