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.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.psychotherapy process

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The Experiences of Religious/Spiritual Jewish Therapists Working with Religious/Spiritual Jewish Clients
    (2020) Gerstenblith, Judith Ann; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    We used Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill, 2012) to investigate the experiences of eleven religious/spiritual (R/S) Jewish therapists working with R/S Jewish clients in psychotherapy. R/S concerns involved struggles with Jewish identity, relationships, and the Jewish community. Therapists used R/S and non-R/S interventions to help with R/S concerns, although therapists explicitly discussed Jewish laws, beliefs, and practices more in successful than in unsuccessful cases. Therapists in both cases experienced R/S countertransference, but therapists in unsuccessful cases more often expressed uncertainty and regret regarding their clinical decisions. Therapists perceived that effective therapeutic interventions led to client improvement. Factors associated with success included therapists’ effective use of a shared R/S identity, ability to overcome tensions raised by R/S differences, and countertransference management; and clients’ openness, stability, and motivation. Implications include therapists developing an approach that is sensitive to R/S identity and researchers investigating therapeutic dyads with cultural and value-based similarities and differences.
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    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.
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    DOES THE ACCULTURATION OF INTERNATONAL STUDENT THERAPISTS PREDICT THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH U.S. CLIENTS? AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.
    (2015) Perez Rojas, Andres Eduardo; Gelso, Charles J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    A large body of research highlights the salience of acculturation to the psychosocial functioning of international students, and a great deal of research suggests that the person of the therapist is important for the process of psychotherapy. Yet very little research has examined whether and how acculturation factors influence the person of the international student therapist and, in turn, his or her psychotherapy work with U.S. clients. In the present study, self-report data was gathered from 123 international student therapists enrolled in programs accredited by the American Psychological Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs across the U.S. Two factors reflecting international student therapists’ acculturation experiences (acculturative stress and cultural distance) were examined as potential predictors of four variables germane to the participants’ therapy work (real relationship, working alliance, session quality, and session depth) with their most recent U.S. client. Contrary to what was hypothesized, acculturative stress and cultural distance were unrelated to the psychotherapy process variables. Post-hoc analyses revealed one significant interaction, which suggested that acculturative stress interacted with self-reported English fluency to predict session depth among international student therapists for whom English is a second language (ESL). Specifically, when ESL student therapists were more fluent in English, their acculturative stress was positively related to their session depth ratings, whereas acculturative stress and depth were unrelated at lower levels of English fluency. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed along with recommendations for future study.
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    Psychotherapy Process in the Exploration Stage
    (2004-04-16) Goates-Jones, Melissa; Hill, Clara E.; Psychology
    The purpose of this study was to examine the counseling process within the exploration stage of Hill and O'Brien's (1999) 3-stage helping skills model. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-square analyses revealed that: (1) therapists did not use significantly different response modes in response to client narrative process modes; (2) when therapists asked an open question about feelings or reflect feelings, clients were more likely to respond with the internal narrative processing code; and (3) there were no significant associations between therapist response mode and client shift or maintenance of narrative process modes. In addition the hypotheses that (1) client helpfulness ratings can be predicted by client narrative response mode in the previous turn and therapist predominant verbal response mode in that turn, and (2) that client helpfulness ratings can be predicted by client narrative response mode in the previous turn and therapist predominant verbal response mode in that turn were not supported.