Developing skills in counselling and psychotherapy: a scoping review of Interpersonal Process Recall and Reflecting Team methods in initial therapist training

The authors conducted a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature associated with Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) and Reflecting Team (RT) methods in order to find evidence for their use within skills development in therapist trainings. Inclusion criteria were: empirical research, reviews of empirical research, and responses to these; RT or IPR for skills development in counsellors/psychotherapists undertaking initial training. Six papers were identified (four IPR, two RT), all from the USA. Of the four IPR papers, three were themselves reviews, the fourth empirical paper being of poor methodological quality. There was some evidence that IPR is more valuable in developing reflective practice than in initial skills training. The small number of RT studies, of varying methodological quality, made it difficult to draw any conclusions about the appropriateness of this method for initial skills training. However, the method appeared to have been broadly welcomed by students for its potential to be inclusive and collaborative. The limitations of this current review are acknowledged, and research recommendations made.     

Deception in psychotherapy: Frequency,typology and relationship

Deception in therapy has been documented anecdotally through various narratives of therapists. The investigation of its occurrence within therapy has largely been overlooked. We explored the reported frequency of deception within psychotherapy, the types of deception used within therapy, the likelihood of people lying to a therapist compared to other groups of people, and client perceptions of the types of deception that therapists use. Ninety‐one participants were provided with a series of deception examples, asked questions about the use of these types of deception within therapy, and asked generally about their use of deception in therapy. We found that a majority of the participants had been deceptive in therapy, and a majority were willing to be deceptive in future therapeutic contexts. Participants were more likely to use white lies than other forms of deception in therapy. Lastly, participants were less likely to lie to therapists compared to strangers and acquaintances. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Listening to Both Sides of the Therapeutic Dyad: Self-Disclosure of Gay Male Therapists and Reflections From Their Gay Male Clients

Clinicians vary as to their beliefs about the use of self-disclosure in psychotherapy depending on theoretical framework, experience level, and the problem focus. Given the limited number of studies examining therapeutic pairs (client and clinician), this study used qualitative methodology to interview gay male therapists and their gay male clients about how therapist self-disclosures affected their therapy. Results show that clients often felt aware of therapist self-disclosures, whether explicit or implicit, and believed the disclosures assisted them in feeling connected to their therapists and served to normalize the clients’ experiences. Limitations to the study are discussed.     

Domestic Violence

Summary

In this paper, the authors outline their experience in incorporating a curriculum on domestic violence into an urban family practice residency program. Based on the concept that in order to successfully develop such a curriculum, it is necessary to address the “culture of the organization,” joint educational strategies that in-elude resident education as well as faculty development were considered. A research question was designed to inquire as to the difference in the level of knowledge about domestic violence in family practice faculty as compared to residents prior to the introduction of educational strategies. The authors describe curriculum goals and objectives and outline specific teaching methods as well as the evaluation instrument utilized in the study to measure actual difference in knowledge between faculty and residents about domestic violence with a focus specifically on spousal abuse. Their conclusions point to the need for an educational strategy that includes emphasis on the faculty-resident interface which utilizes both traditional and non-traditional integrated formats in order to successfully train residents in the identification and treatment of domestic violence.     

Therapist memory and reverie: implications for the clinical setting

In this work, the author considers reveries to be ‘dream-like-memories’. In the course of a session they appear as proto-memory – the therapist’s early traumatic object relations that are recorded in the unconscious at an almost bodily level (a type of unthought known) and which are resurrected between therapist and patient when a similar traumatic subject arises between them. The therapist’s reveries are recollections in the form of dream-like allusions to his past experience. A clinical vignette from the psychotherapy of a child whose father suffered from PTSD (following a wartime experience in Afghanistan and Iraq) is discussed. Dissociative dynamics were repeated in the therapeutic relationship, in the form of an obsessive game intending to preserve the state in which there was no need to remember what had been unconsciously transmitted to the child: his father’s wartime experience. The projection of the primary elements which had been silenced evoked in the therapist allusions to his unconscious identification with his ancestor’s post-traumatic experiences. These allusions helped in overcoming the dissociated state. The role of memory in child psychotherapists’ receptivity of trauma is revisited.     

The experiences of therapy from the perspectives of carers of people with dementia: An exploratory study

Design: Interviews were conducted with six carers of people with dementia about their experience of receiving counselling/psychotherapy. Interviews were conducted in the carer's own home, and data were analysed thematically using a narrative approach. Findings: Three themes were identified from the data: ‘Still doing the best I can’ (identified as losses and processes of personal growth); ‘Feeling connected and being understood’ (identified as attributes believed to be important within the therapeutic relationship); and ‘Wanting to share information’ (identified as sharing information with someone ‘neutral’). Carers placed emphasis on the age of the therapist and the amount of therapist self‐disclosure. Attending counselling and/or psychotherapy also helped the carer to find a ‘safe space’ to disclose and share concerns. Discussion: Carer loss and personal growth are explored, together with the importance of building therapeutic relationships and, for the therapist, seeking supervision when managing personal self‐disclosure. The theme of therapist self disclosure is explored together with the importance of therapists seeking supervision when managing personal self‐disclosure.