Clinical supervision is an essential component in a social work student’s education and development in the field. Social work students should feel comfortable with their clinical supervisors in order to appropriately self-disclose during supervision and gain the ability to recognize countertransference when working with clients. The significance of this is that students should be aware of their feelings and learn how to process these reactions during supervision. A mixed methods approach was utilized, surveying and interviewing students and clinical supervisors affiliated with California State University, San Bernardino. A Pearson correlation coefficient was conducted to determine the relationship between the strength of the supervisory relationship and the ability of social work students to recognize countertransference. The findings of this study suggested that there are significant relationships between the supervisory relationship and perceptions of self-disclosure and countertransference. Based on the qualitative analyses, eight central themes emerged regarding supervision practices and the relationships between students and supervisors. The implications of this study should impact how clinical supervisors foster the development of strong relationships with student interns. This should allow students to gain skills to succeed and provide better services to clients.

While several studies examining African Americans' mental health rates appeared in the past, existing research does not describe internal and external factor influences on positive ethnic identity development and their mediating effects on mental health help-seeking attitudes for this population. This quantitative study used structural equation modeling to examine the relationships between 3 ecological levels (the individual level/level of bicultural identity, the family level/family ethnic socialization, and the social context level/self-concealment) and examine their collective influence on ethnic identity development and mental health help-seeking attitudes of African Americans. The choice of variables for this study was grounded in Stokols' social ecological theory, Lewin's theory of psychological fields, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems that outline human development. Results were measured by responses to surveys from 161 African American males and females residing within the Atlanta, Georgia area. The family and social level were more predictive of ethnic identity development and ethnic identity positively and negatively, respectively, related to bicultural self-efficacy. Having the ability to communicate in both mainstream and ethnic cultures was directly predictive of positive attitudes toward seeking professional help. The social change implications of this study included gaining insight into African Americans' difficulty with developing positive ethnic identity and mental health help-seeking, providing professional clinicians with a model of the process of ethnic identity and mental health help-seeking attitude development, and improved advancement in training and cultural-based interventions for clinicians specifically working with minority populations.

Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Setting: The study was undertaken in St Rita’s Hospital, a district hospital for healthin Makhuduthamaga Municipality, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to describe client experiences of HIV-positive post-disclosure tosexual partners at St Rita’s Hospital, Limpopo Province. Research design and methodology: A qualitative, descriptive and phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 HIV-positive clients to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection until saturation was reached. Data analysis was done using Techs open-coding method. Research findings: The study found that most of the clients were shocked and worried after testing HIV-positive. Participants whose sexual partners were aware that they were sick, indicated their wish to test and to immediately disclose their HIV-positive status. The study identified that some women found it difficult to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and continued to have unprotected sex in spite of ongoing counselling and support provided at the clinic. Some women participants who disclosed to sexual partners were accepted and some were rejected by sexual partners. Some women who disclosed their HIV-positive status to sexual partners were unable to motivate sexual partners to be counselled together and have mutual disclosure. These participants therefore continued to have unprotected sex with sexual partners and some became pregnant as sexual partners indicated that they tested HIV-negative elsewhere and were not keen to use condoms. Female participants did not indicate the use of female condoms as part of their responsibility to prevent transmission of HIV. Implications, recommendations and conclusions: The barriers which female participants face to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and not being able to insist on the use condoms may contribute to a high rate of HIV transmission and disease incidence. There should be establishment of consortiums at community level to provide quality support and follow up to vii clients who face challenges or fear to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. KEYWORDS • Clients’ experiences • Disclosure • Experiences, • Sexual partner • HIV-positive

Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Setting: The study was undertaken in St Rita’s Hospital, a district hospital for healthin Makhuduthamaga Municipality, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to describe client experiences of HIV-positive post-disclosure tosexual partners at St Rita’s Hospital, Limpopo Province. A qualitative, descriptive and phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 HIV- positive clients to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection until saturation was reached. Data analysis was done using Techs open-coding method. Research findings: The study found that most of the clients were shocked and worried after testing HIV-positive. Participants whose sexual partners were aware that they were sick, indicated their wish to test and to immediately disclose their HIV-positive status. The study identified that some women found it difficult to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and continued to have unprotected sex in spite of ongoing counselling and support provided at the clinic. Some women participants who disclosed to sexual partners were accepted and some were rejected by sexual partners. Some women who disclosed their HIV-positive status to sexual partners were unable to motivate sexual partners to be counselled together and have mutual disclosure. These participants therefore continued to have unprotected sex with sexual partners and some became pregnant as sexual partners indicated that they tested HIV-negative elsewhere and were not keen to use condoms. Female participants did not indicate the use of female condoms as part of their responsibility to prevent transmission of HIV. Implications, recommendations and conclusions: The barriers which female participants face to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and not being able to insist on the use condoms may contribute to a high rate of HIV transmission and disease incidence. There should be establishment of consortiums at community level to provide quality support and follow up to clients who face challenges or fear to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. KEYWORDS • Clients’ experiences • Disclosure • Experiences, • Sexual partner • HIV-positive

This thesis focuses on disclosure of sexual abuse by men who were sexually abused either as children or adolescents. The research questions that it set out to answer were 'why and how do males in Australia disclose to another person that they have been sexually abused?' Aims were to understand disclosure from the perspective of male survivors in Australia, identify the factors that inhibit, trigger and facilitate disclosure, and develop a theory of disclosure reflecting the processes involved.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the change in gay/lesbian friendships after the disclosure of their sexual identity. Six specific areas were examined: (1) what are the circumstances under which persons find out their close friends are gay/lesbian (hereafter referred to as the event), (2) do relationships change when close friends find out about the participants' sexual identity, (3) if the relationship changes, how does it change (hereafter referred to as the relational outcome), (4) which events are associated with which relational outcomes, (5) how satisfied are the gays/lesbians with their relational outcomes, and (6) what are the gays'/lesbians' perceived causes of the relational outcomes. The results of this study indicated that the majority of the participants disclosed their sexual identity to their close friends. And they did so in an attempt to be honest, to avoid hiding who they are, and to be able to talk about their sexual identity freely. Most of the participants reported being quite satisfied with the relationships which became more close or stayed the same. Most of the participants reported being somewhat unsatisfied with the relationships which became more distant or terminated. The way in which the friends found out about the participants' sexual identity was not related to whether or not the relationship became more close or more distant. The participants believed their relationships became more close because they were honest. However, the participants believed their relationships became more distant because their friends were homophobic. This research is significant because it may help counselors, therapists, and practitioners coach gay men and lesbians when their relationships deteriorate or are strained. This research may also enable gay men and lesbians to be aware of potential factors which might affect their relationships with their friends after disclosure occurs. In addition, this research may equip gay men and lesbians with information to enable them to make educated decisions on discussing their sexual identity with their friends. Furthermore, the results from this research might provide suggestions to individuals who have gay friends to help them make the coming-out process easier for their gay friends. / Graduation date: 1998

This study investigates the phenomenon of asymmetric interpersonal relationships—dyads in which one individual has greater knowledge of personal information about the other. Relationships usually benefit from self-disclosure when it is done in a reciprocal, personal manner; acquiring information through such means as Facebook can disrupt the process, offset information balance and negatively affect interrelationship factors. This study investigates the effect of information asymmetry on such factors as interpersonal attraction, subjective power, and social interaction anxiety. Participants were given Facebook profiles with varying amounts of information (high, low, or none) prior to interacting with a confederate. I predicted that participants in the high information condition would experience the greatest social interaction anxiety and the least interpersonal attraction. Increased anxiety would mediate a reduction in interpersonal attraction. Participants with no prior information were expected to exhibit opposite tendencies compared to the high information condition. A secondary effect on subjective power was also explored. Results did not reach statistical significance but were in the directions as hypothesized. Findings indicate that imbalance of interpersonal information has the potential to negatively impact relationship factors.

Inledning: Syftet med denna studie var att öppna diskussion och belysa den genuina, naturliga relationen mellan terapeuten och patienten under terapin och relationens roll i den terapeutiska processen. Frågeställningar: De är baserade på frågor om relationen som begrepp, inställning till personlig öppenhet (Self-Disclosure), relationens betydelse för terapin i relation till terapeutisk teknik och teoribygge, och frågor om roller i skapande och upprätthållande av relationen i terapin. Metod: Studie är kvalitativ och genomfördes som ensemistrukturerad intervju med fem terapeuter av olika rinriktning och olika erfarenheter inom terapeutiskt arbete. Tre av dem var kognitivt orienterade medan två hade dynamisk bakgrund. Materialet analyserades, strukturerades och valdes utifrån frågeställningars ämne och tillåtet utrymme. Resultat: I studien framkom att relationen inom terapi anses som oundviklig del av terapiprocessen och att en god relation mellan patient och terapeut gynnar terapin och terapins utfall. Diskussion: De intervjuade terapeuterna beskrev ett mer öppet, fritt, flexibelt sätt att bemöta människan och att använda sin egen person med sin genuinitet samt en mer jämlik ställning mellan terapeuten och patienten. Slutsats blir att relation har betydelse bland terapeuter och betecknas som en av de viktigaste tredskapen i psykoterapi.

This study explored why individuals write personal blogs and the influences of blogging on their lives. Four structural equation models that specified the social and psychological process of blogging were tested in this study. The models included four major components: personal characteristics, blogging motives, blogging behaviors and blogging social outcomes. A total of 412 bloggers recruited online completed the survey questionnaire. A factor analysis revealed nine salient motives for writing personal blogs: self-documentation, information sharing, entertainment, emotion regulation, communication with existing friends, formation of new friendships, identity exploration, pass time and self-presentation. Significant associations between these motives and demographics, including gender, age and education, were also identified. The results of the structural equation modeling suggested that public self-consciousness was positively related to the self-presentation motive, which was in turn positively related to self-presentation in blogs. In the same vein, social anxiety was positively related to the motive to form new friendships, which in turn was positively related to the number of new friends made via blogs and the quality of new friendships. Social anxiety was found to be negatively associated with the number of new friends made, the number of existing friends communicated with, and the quality of existing friendships maintained through blogs, but positively related to the quality of new friendships established via blogs. Self-disclosure was positively related to the number of new friends made, the quality of new friendships and the quality of existing friendships. The mediation effects of blogging motivations and self-disclosure on the relationships between social anxiety and blogging social interaction outcomes were also tested. The content analysis of the responses to an open-ended question indicated that the majority of the respondents believed that blogging had positively influenced their lives. The major benefits of blogging reported by the respondents included keeping in touch with family and friends, making new friends, improved social interaction, writing and thinking ability, expanded vision, emotional relief and social support, identity exploration, and documentation of daily life. Interpretations of the findings, and implications for understanding the social use of the Internet, were discussed.

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