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A gap exists in the literature exploring the burnout and self-care experiences of novice psychotherapists, despite their greater susceptibility to burnout. The aim of the present study was to begin filling the gap by exploring the lived experiences of burnout among novice psychotherapists and the self-care strategies they employed to combat burnout. Three research questions guided this exploration: (1) How do novice psychotherapists experience burnout? (2) What strategies do novice psychotherapists use to overcome their burnout? (3) How has novice psychotherapists’ self-care strategies changed as a result of experiencing burnout? Four novice psychotherapists were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to gain an insight into their experiences. Using an inductive approach to Thematic Analysis, six main themes, thirteen categories and twenty-eight codes emerged. The six themes were the following: (1) The experience of burnout, which was divided into three categories and included nine codes (2) The strategies employed to combat burnout, which was divided into two categories and included seven codes (3) The meaning of self-care, which was divided into two categories and included three codes (4) Ethical considerations, which was divided into three categories and included three codes (5) Recommendations, which was divided into two categories and included five codes and (6) Looking ahead, which was divided into one category and included one code. Burnout is a debilitating experience that impact personal life, client care, and society. Discussion includes implications for novice psychotherapists, pedagogy and practice, and society.

This qualitative study aimed to investigate psychotherapists’ experience of dishonesty in the therapy setting. Therapist dishonesty is broadly defined as “behaviors or words, spoken or withheld, that are meant to deceive or mislead” (Jackson & Farber, 2021, p. 1). Though it is anecdotally acknowledged in the clinical literature, the phenomenon of therapist dishonesty has been empirically under-researched and unexplored, in favor of topics such as client dishonesty and client and therapist self-disclosure. Designed as a follow-up to a quantitative study of 401 participants (Jackson & Farber, 2021), the present study aimed to capture a comprehensive phenomenological understanding of the circumstances, motives, feelings, perceived consequences, guidelines, and attitudes therapists carry about dishonesty in therapy. Further, this study aims to understand the extent to which therapists, in practice, are dishonest, and whether this occurrence is consistent with professional ethics and guidelines regarding dishonesty. Additionally, this study intends to review and synthesize the advice practicing therapists would provide to beginning therapists on handling situations in which they are tempted to refrain from telling the entire truth to patients. Following the methodology of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), 20 psychotherapists participated in semi-structured interviews prompting the factors that contribute to honesty and dishonesty in psychotherapy and its perceived impacts and clinical implications. Nine domains and various salient findings emerged from the analysis. Findings revealed that most commonly, dishonesty occurs around personal disclosures to patients, reasons for dishonesty are typically associated with boundary setting to protect therapists’ needs or patients’ feelings, while nearly all therapists would not have handled their dishonest moment differently, many regret this moment, and typically, therapists contend that their honest disclosure have increased, rather than decreased, over the course of their careers. Therapist dishonesty and its association with clinical tact, therapist disclosure, and therapist matching are discussed. Limitations, clinical implications for novice therapists, and future directions are noted. Keywords: Therapist dishonesty, therapist honesty, therapist disclosure, clinical tact, therapist effects

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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experience of the day-to-day and continuing work motivation of professional counsellors and psychotherapists. A life history methodology was employed to distill discrete motivational factors and to construct broader motivational frameworks. Nine professional mid-career counsellors/psychotherapists (6 women, 3 men, 3 psychologists, 3 social workers, 2 counselling psychologists and 1 privately trained PhD) drawn from private practice (3) and institutional workplaces (6) were given in-depth interviews to delve into the motivational experience occasioned by their work. Employing a series of guided questions each of the research participants were interviewed about the overall experience of the gratifications, satisfactions, and motivations occasioned by their work and discrete motivational experiences in session, in-the moment. Other questions delved into the experience of dissatisfaction and de-motivation, the factors that allowed them to persist in adverse circumstances, changes in their work motivation from the time they first entered the profession, and the effects of their work on their feelings of self-esteem and well-being. Through a grounded theory analysis of the interview transcripts and informed by work motivation theory, the research participants’ observations on their motivational experience were used to construct three models. The first model demonstrated that the overall work motivation of the research participants was generated by the opportunity to simultaneously meet the three universal needs postulated by self-determination theory – autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The second model was based on the phenomenon of privilege experienced by the research participants. In essence, the research participants were motivated to return the gift of intimacy, honour, and trust accorded to them by vulnerable clients in the establishment of the therapeutic bond and alliance, which allowed them to meet their own needs for relatedness and competence and generated feelings of responsibility and obligation to safeguard trust and protect vulnerability. The third model was generated from the research participants’ experience of the process of counselling and psychotherapy, incorporating goal-setting with clients, privilege, in-the-moment experiences of efficacy, and effectance feedback to the realization of proximal goals within the process, which reinforced the motivation to work towards the distal goals of positive outcome. The three models were incorporated into an integrated framework, describing the factors and processes underlying the work motivation, work satisfaction, self-esteem, and well-being of the research participants. The research may be useful for professional counsellors and psychotherapists and the institutions which employ them.

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experience of the day-to-day and continuing work motivation of professional counsellors and psychotherapists. A life history methodology was employed to distill discrete motivational factors and to construct broader motivational frameworks. Nine professional mid-career counsellors/psychotherapists (6 women, 3 men, 3 psychologists, 3 social workers, 2 counselling psychologists and 1 privately trained PhD) drawn from private practice (3) and institutional workplaces (6) were given in-depth interviews to delve into the motivational experience occasioned by their work. Employing a series of guided questions each of the research participants were interviewed about the overall experience of the gratifications, satisfactions, and motivations occasioned by their work and discrete motivational experiences in session, in-the moment. Other questions delved into the experience of dissatisfaction and de-motivation, the factors that allowed them to persist in adverse circumstances, changes in their work motivation from the time they first entered the profession, and the effects of their work on their feelings of self-esteem and well-being. Through a grounded theory analysis of the interview transcripts and informed by work motivation theory, the research participants’ observations on their motivational experience were used to construct three models. The first model demonstrated that the overall work motivation of the research participants was generated by the opportunity to simultaneously meet the three universal needs postulated by self-determination theory – autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The second model was based on the phenomenon of privilege experienced by the research participants. In essence, the research participants were motivated to return the gift of intimacy, honour, and trust accorded to them by vulnerable clients in the establishment of the therapeutic bond and alliance, which allowed them to meet their own needs for relatedness and competence and generated feelings of responsibility and obligation to safeguard trust and protect vulnerability. The third model was generated from the research participants’ experience of the process of counselling and psychotherapy, incorporating goal-setting with clients, privilege, in-the-moment experiences of efficacy, and effectance feedback to the realization of proximal goals within the process, which reinforced the motivation to work towards the distal goals of positive outcome. The three models were incorporated into an integrated framework, describing the factors and processes underlying the work motivation, work satisfaction, self-esteem, and well-being of the research participants. The research may be useful for professional counsellors and psychotherapists and the institutions which employ them.

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-142).

This qualitative study aimed to trace the psychotherapeutic development of clinical and counselling psychologists across the careerspan within the South African context. Through purposive sampling 34 psychologists were recruited according to the inclusion criteria of the study. Five distinct career levels were explored, namely, student (n=10), intern (n=7), early career (n=7), experienced (n=5), and senior (n=5) psychologists in relation to the Society of Psychotherapy Research’s international model of psychotherapist development. By means of semi-structured interviews, couched in the social constructionist position, participants’ experiences were thematically analysed from over 600 pages of transcription. Additionally, the researcher’s personal journey of developing as a psychotherapist was reflected upon. The current study found that a number of aspects fostered the development of psychotherapists. Participants reflected on personal and familial wounding events that influenced them choosing a career as a psychologist; this awareness was gradual over their development. Across theoretical orientations, participants resisted adhering to one way of working in light of the diverse South African context. However, the need to limit the number of theoretical orientations taught within the first months of training was proposed. Professional sources of influence highlighted by participants were personal therapy and peer supervision or reading groups. Qualified professionals to a lesser extent made use of individual supervision which when pursued needed to be a ‘felt’ collaboration. Participants found as they developed they became more comfortable being a psychotherapist however the complexity of cases still kept them humble. Limitations of the study, potential future research directions as well as recommendations for practicing clinical and counselling psychology were outlined. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

The aim of the study was to measure the presence of work engagement and wellbeing among Gestalt play therapists in South Africa. A literature study was undertaken to examine the concepts of work engagement and well-being, and a conceptual framework was given of the Gestalt play therapist and the work that they do with traumatized children within the South African context. This literature study forms the theoretical framework in which the study was done. After completion of the literature study, the empirical study was conducted. The researcher made use of a biographical questionnaire and four psychometric instruments to compile research data; it is the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Scales of Psychological Well-being. The data obtained was quantatively analysed, research findings were discussed and recommendations were made. The empirical data indicated work engagement and well-being to be statistically significant present in Gestalt play therapists in South Africa. / M. Diac. (Play Therapy) / Social Work