Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Master Therapists' Perceptions of Self-Disclosure Use in Individual Psychotherapy: A Qualitative Study(2016) Pinto-Coelho, Kristen Giddens; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The majority of psychotherapy practitioners use therapist self-disclosure (TSD; Lane, Farber, & Geller, 2001; Henretty & Levitt, 2010), clients say it is helpful (Hanson, 2005) Hill, Helms, Tichenor, Spiegel, O’Grady, & Perry, E., 1988), and a growing body of research and theory suggests that avoiding TSD in all circumstances may have harmful effects on both the client and the therapy (Barnett, 2011). Thus, continued research is called for to provide clinicians with recommendations for how to use the intervention therapeutically, as well as how to avoid using it in ways that might be harmful. However, little is known about how master therapists make decisions about TSD, and researchers have found that studying therapists’ use of disclosure, in general, is of limited use (Gallucci, 2002). Accordingly, we interviewed 13 master therapists about their general attitudes about TSDs, examples of actual successful TSDs, examples of actual unsuccessful TSDs, and instances during which they felt an urge to disclose but chose not to do so. We analyzed the transcripts using consensual qualitative research. In terms of general attitudes, therapists believed that some types of TSD can be helpful in some situations if used sparingly, but had many cautions about using TSDs. In successful TSDs, there were no typical antecedents; therapists typically intended to provide support, facilitate exploration and insight, and build and maintain the therapeutic relationship; the content was typically about similarities between the therapist and client and relevant to the client’s issues; and the consequences were typically positive. In unsuccessful TSDs, the typical antecedents were countertransference reactions; the typical intentions were to provide support; therapists typically misjudged perceived similarities; and the consequences were negative. In instances when therapists felt urged to disclose but did not, the typical antecedent was countertransference; and the content of what was not disclosed typically seemed relevant to the client’s issues. Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed.Item Characterizing Therapist Self-Disclosure in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy(2013) Pinto-Coelho, Kristen Giddens; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This mixed-methods study examined therapist self-disclosure (TSD) in 16 cases of naturalistic therapy to describe how real therapists use self-disclosure with real clients and to explore which characteristics of TSD contribute to its effectiveness. Judges coded 185 TSD events from 115 sessions of psychodynamic psychotherapy for type (facts, feelings, insight, strategy); whether disclosures were reassuring, challenging, both, or neither; intimacy level; quality level; and initiator. Relationships among these characteristics and clients' session outcome ratings (Real Relationship Inventory and Working Alliance Inventory) were examined using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Likelihood of disclosure occurrence and certain disclosure types and characteristics were related to client post-session ratings of the real relationship and the working alliance. Higher-intimacy disclosures (moderately intimate) were associated with stronger client ratings of the real relationship and the working alliance. It is argued that therapist self- disclosure is multifaceted and complex. Implications for research, training, and practice are discussed.