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Interdisciplinary collaboration : counsellors’ perceptions of collaboration experiences with psychiatrists on community mental health teams

The purpose of this study was to describe counsellors' perceptions of their
collaboration experiences with psychiatrists working in the context of a community mental
health team. Specifically, perceptions of facilitating and impeding factors that influence collaboration were identified. Interpretive description (Thorne, Kirkham, & McDonald-Ernes, 1997), a qualitative methodology, was selected as the means of attaining descriptions of the collaboration process that would depict the commonalities among the participant sample while maintaining the unique experience of each individual. Participants included four female and four male Caucasian counsellors between the ages of 38 and 57 who possessed either an M.A. or M.Ed. degree and were currently working in a mental health team. The counsellors engaged in open-ended interviews in which they read an orienting statement and responded to the following directive: Talk about some of the particular collaboration experiences you have had with psychiatrists. Aspects of collaboration experiences fit into one of three general categories: 1) external-structural factors stemming from the work setting; 2) internal cognitive factors pertaining to counsellors' perceptions of psychiatrists and themselves; or 3) social-relational factors arising from communication styles and ways of interacting. The findings suggest that much of the quality of a collaborative interaction arises from the actual quality of the professional relationship. Findings are considered in relation to previous and future research, existing ethical codes, and counsellor training. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/12912
Date11 1900
CreatorsGoosen, Jennifer
Source SetsUniversity of British Columbia
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, Thesis/Dissertation
Format6371684 bytes, application/pdf
RightsFor non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

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