The role of personal practice in therapist skill development: a model to guide therapists,educators, supervisors and researchers

Prior to 2000, personal practice (PP) for therapists mostly meant personal therapy. Recently a new landscape of PPs has emerged, with meditation-based programs and therapy self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR) programs playing an increasing role in training and personal/professional development. The challenge now for practitioners and researchers is to refocus on the role of PPs in training and professional development. Are PPs of value - or not? Do they have a role in therapist development? How might PPs enhance therapist skilfulness? Do different PPs act in similar or different ways? Currently, the PP literature lacks a theoretical framework to guide practitioners in their choice of PPs or researchers in their choice of research questions and measures. The purpose of this article is to provide such a framework, the Personal Practice (PP) model. The PP model proposes primary impacts of PPs in four domains: personal development/wellbeing, self-awareness, interpersonal beliefs/attitudes/skills and reflective skills. The model also suggests a secondary impact on therapists’ conceptual/technical skills when therapists use reflection to consider the implications of their PP for their “therapist self”. We offer some suggestions to enhance the quality of future research, and conclude that PPs may play an important and perhaps unique role in therapist training.     

Perceived Risks and Benefits in a Text Message Study of Substance Abuse and Sexual Behavior

To inform ethical procedures for human subjects research using mobile health (mHealth), we examined perceived risks and benefits of study participation among emerging adults (N = 54) with drug use who completed text message assessments of substance use and sexual behaviors. Most participants reported comfort with participation and some reported perceived benefits, such as improved relationships. Perceived risks were infrequently reported, including negative emotions and legal or financial concerns. In conclusion, participants from a vulnerable population reported few perceived harms of participation in longitudinal mHealth assessments of sensitive behaviors. Researchers should continue characterizing participants’ perspectives on ethical aspects of mHealth research.     

Characteristics Associated With Individuals’ Caring,Just, and Brave Expressions of the Tendency to Be a Moral Rebel

Extending previous research on the characteristics associated with adolescents’ general tendency to be a moral rebel (Sonnentag & Barnett, 2016), the present study examined the roles of moral identity and (general and situation-specific) moral courage characteristics on 3 (i.e., caring, just, and brave) expressions of the tendency to stand up for one’s beliefs and values despite social pressure not to do so. Results revealed that general and situation-specific moral courage characteristics are important motivators of individuals’ caring, just, and brave expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel, especially when they possess a relatively strong moral identity.     

“There's No Place to Hide”: Exploring the Stressors Encountered by Elite Cricket Captains

This study aimed to enhance understanding of stressors that elite sporting captains face in their role. The autobiographies of 12 international cricket captains were sampled. Stressors relating to the captaincy role were identified, and following thematic analysis, 7 general dimensions of stressors were recognized: multiple roles, team stressors, interactions with players, selection, interactions with other personnel, the media, and extreme situations. It appears that stressors are heightened due to a combination of playing and leadership responsibilities that captains experience. Findings are considered, including how they might be used to inform practitioners and coaches who work with captains.     

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Father Engagement Questionnaire

While there has been increasing interest in promoting father engagement in parenting interventions for child wellbeing, both research and practice endeavors have been hindered by a lack of a measure of father engagement practices. This paper reports the development and evaluation of a comprehensive, practitioner-report measure of father engagement practices–—the Father Engagement Questionnaire (FEQ). Practitioners (N?=?589; 84.5% females; mean age?=?38.56) involved in delivering parenting interventions in Australia completed the FEQ, along with background demographics and questions regarding their own and organization’s practice. A separate sample of 28 practitioners completed the FEQ twice, with a two-week interim, to assess test–retest stability of the measure. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors corresponding to the measure’s five intended content areas: Confidence in Working with Fathers, Competence in Using Engagement Strategies, Perceived Effectiveness of Engagement Strategies, Frequency of Strategy Use, and Organizational Practices for Father Engagement. Each of these scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and test–retest stability. As the five scales appear to be related but distinct, it is recommended that the FEQ is used as a multidimensional measure of father engagement. In terms of predictive validity, higher scores on the Confidence in Working with Fathers, Frequency of Strategy Use, and Organizational Practices for Father Engagement scales were associated with a higher likelihood of practitioner-reported father attendance. The results provide support for adequate psychometric properties of the FEQ as a research and clinical tool for assessing and monitoring father engagement practices.     

Do Disagreeable Political Discussion Networks Undermine Attitude Strength?

How attitudes change and affect behavior depends, in large part, on their strength. Strong attitudes are more resistant to persuasion and are more likely to produce attitude‐consistent behavior. But what influences attitude strength? In this article, we explore a widely discussed, but rarely investigated, factor: an individual's political discussion network. What prior work exists offers a somewhat mixed picture, finding sometimes that disagreeable networks weaken attitudes and other times that they strengthen attitudes. We use a novel national representative dataset to explore the relationship between disagreeable networks and attitude strength. We find, perhaps surprisingly, no evidence that disagreements in networks affect political attitude strength. We conclude by discussing likely reasons for our findings, which, in turn, provide a research agenda for the study of networks and attitude strength.     

Triarchic Model of Psychopathy: A Brief Measure Among Detained Female Youths

The present study examined the psychometric properties of a brief measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy based on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI-Tri-S) among a forensic sample of detained female youth offenders (M = 16.41 years; SD = 1.19 years) from Portugal. Results supported the expected three-factor structure and cross-gender measurement invariance. The YPI-Tri-S showed good psychometric properties in terms of factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity. Findings suggest that the YPI-Tri-S is a valid and reliable measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy, which can be used to assess female juvenile offenders.     

The effect of self‐identity alongside perceived importance within the theory of planned behaviour

Self‐identity often predicts behavioural intentions after standard theory of planned behaviour (TPB) components are accounted for. However, it has been claimed this is due to conceptual similarity between self‐identity and perceived importance of the behaviour. We examined this claim within the context of recycling food waste. Participants (N = 113) completed questionnaires assessing intentions, attitude, perceived behavioural control, perceived norms, perceived importance, self‐identity, and past behaviour. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that self‐identity and perceived importance were distinct constructs. Further, after accounting for TPB components and perceived importance, self‐identity explained a significant amount of additional variance in intentions. The present findings therefore do not support this particular argument against the predictive utility of self‐identity.     

Domain Compensation in Quality of Life of Individuals with Vasovagal Syncope: a Test of Homeostasis Theory

Although health-related quality of life is often diminished in populations characterised by physical illness, this does not necessarily imply lower overall assessments of general life satisfaction (GLS) and greater incidence of mental illness. According to Homeostasis Theory, this limited impact of health on these more global wellbeing indices may be due to internal and external buffers that serve to maintain one’s overall sense of wellbeing and GLS in the face of adversity. Thus, the present study tested in a sample of 212 individuals (48 with vasovagal syncope, 62 cardiac patients, and 102 healthy control participants) the possibility that poor health-related quality of life (as expected for the cardiac and vasovagal syncope groups) may be offset by relatively higher satisfaction with other aspects of one’s life (the domain compensation hypothesis). Consistent with this view, present findings showed that although individuals in the two health-risk groups reported lower health satisfaction (HSat) than the control group, they had comparable levels of mental health, GLS satisfaction, and subjective wellbeing (minus health; PWI-H). Moreover, moderation analyses confirmed that the relationship between HSat and GLS reduced to non-significance for individuals with PWI-H higher than nationally representative, normative levels. Collectively, these findings suggest that a broader context is necessary to understand the impact that illness may have on one’s sense of GLS and mental health. In particular, the provision of support and satisfaction with other life domains may serve to buffer concerns about one’s health.