Post date: 09-Nov-2020 15:45:01
Person-centred therapy and pre-therapy for people who hear voices, have unusual experiences or psychotic processes: practitioner and client perceptions of helpful and unhelpful practice and perceived client changes
This study by Wendy Traynor (2018) set out to explore practitioner and client perceptions of helpful and unhelpful practice and perceived client changes in person-centred therapy and pre-therapy for people who hear voices, have unusual experiences or psychotic processes.
The study used a mixed method research strategy with three different studies:
The first study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 person-centred practitioners working with clients with psychotic processes.
The second study interviewed 20 adult clients (mid or post-therapy) who had self-identified as hearing voices, having other unusual experiences or psychotic processes using the Change Interview protocol.
The third and final study consisted of a hermeneutic single case efficacy design study with a client who was experiencing psychotic processes and who received 22 sessions of person-centred therapy.
The mixed method research strategy presented in this thesis was an attempt to uncover more information regarding helpful and unhelpful practices and changes in clients who experience psychotic processes.
Overall results raised themes regarding helpful or unhelpful practices and changes in clients, from the perspectives of both practitioners and clients. Results indicated that:
· Most practitioners incorporated pre-therapy and contact work into practice, with positive and sometimes surprising results.
· Practitioners saw person-centred values and the real relationship as important.
· Unconditional positive regard (UPR) was the most critical condition named both by practitioners and clients in this client group, possibly because they often felt judged or diminished by those around them.
· Helpful practices were associated with person-centred values.
· Unhelpful factors included practices such as judgement and unwanted directivity, both of which deviated from the person-centred approach.
The main changes in all studies involved an increase in social abilities and positive sense of self, and an increase in specific aspects of wellbeing. There was some evidence of improvement in mood and reduction in unusual experiences. Studies two and three showed that most clients were evidently active agents in their own change process.
Limitations of the studies include the dual therapist-researcher relationship in the HSCED study, the homogeneity and small size of the samples, and concerns about data validity.
Results are promising and suggest that person-centred therapy can be effective for clients who experience psychotic processes, pointing to the need for further research.
You can read the abstract or download the full PhD research by visiting: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.799160
Traynor, W. (2018). Person-centred therapy and pre-therapy for people who hear voices, have unusual experiences or psychotic processes: Practitioner and client perceptions of helpful and unhelpful practice and perceived client changes. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved from https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.799160 (Costless registration)