Abstract
Whilst conducting couples therapy is a professional practice, couples’ therapists (CTs) play an active role in the therapeutic process not only professionally but also personally. Despite the increase in research into the person of the therapist, few studies have examined the person of the therapist issues specific to CTs. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of CTs regarding the interaction of their personal and professional beliefs and experiences when working with couples. A qualitative design was used, based on constructivist grounded theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 CTs in romantic relationships and working with couples. Three main categories were co-constructed through qualitative analysis: accessing what was brought in through the self, engaging with what the couples bring, and embracing the personal and professional selves. Awareness of the person of the therapist and learning how to use themselves to relate, assess, and intervene with clients enable CTs to create a secure therapeutic presence. The findings have useful implications for clinicians, couples therapy training program frameworks, and couples therapy supervision.
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Due to privacy and ethical concerns, the participants did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, yet an anonymous summary of the data is available on request from the corresponding author.
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SO—Designed the research, collected and analysed the data, and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. SZ-S—Designed the research, advised the implementation process of the research, critically revised the work. YS—Advised the data collection process and critically revised the work. SA-Ş—Advised the research process, helped the preparation of the manuscript, critically revised the work. HJA—Critically revised the work.
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The ethical approval was taken from the Committee on Ethics in Research on Humans at İstanbul Bilgi University (Project Number: 2018-20024-72, Date of Approval: June 5th, 2018).
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Oral, S., Zeytinoğlu-Saydam, S., Söylemez, Y. et al. Developing the Person of the Therapist When Working with Couples. Contemp Fam Ther 45, 228–241 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-022-09641-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-022-09641-w