RESEARCH ARTICLE


The Importance of Reflection: An Exploratory Analysis on How Prospective Psychotherapists Learn Self-Determination



Bo Nurmi1, 2, Clive S. Michelsen3, Torsten Norlander2, 3 , *
1 School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
2 Center for Research and Development, Evidens University College, Gothenburg, Sweden
3 Center for Research and Development, Sciens College, Malmö, Sweden


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Creative Commons License
© 2019 Psychotherapist et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Center for Research and Development, Evidens University College, Packhusplatsen 2, SE-411 13 Göteborg, Sweden; Tel: +46 70 662 11 89, Fax: +46 31 711 04 42;
E-mail: at.norlander@mailbox.tele2.se


Abstract

Background:

Learning to become a psychotherapist is a complicated process. Research on this topic has been limited and there is little consensus on how to assess therapeutic skills. SP/SR (Self-Reflection/Self-Practice) has emerged as a theory and method for learning psychotherapy. In this article students' reflections on how to become a psychotherapist has been studied from a phenomenological perspective.

Objective:

The aim of the present exploratory study was to generate preliminary hypotheses for future investigations in order to elucidate the complicated processes that occur during the therapist training programs.

Methods:

Five prospective psychotherapists were recruited to the present investigation, who all studied at the penultimate semester at Evidens University College, Gothenburg, Sweden. Unstructured qualitative in-depth interviews were used followed by phenomenological analysis.

Results:

Analysis yielded 252 meaning units and 12 categories which in turn led to four overarching themes: Learning as a visit to the dentist (when learning becomes painful because certain issues are not resolved); Learning as theatre (when the students just perform what is expected in order to pass); Learning as post-training soreness (when the learning process is challenging on a relevant level); Learning as reflections (when the students seek the intrinsic meaning).

Conclusion:

The study provided a basis for preliminary hypotheses for future investigations: reflections are helpful for managing the challenges described in the four themes. This, in turn, led to the formulation of some proposals for research questions for future investigations.

Keywords: Cognitive behavioral therapy, Phenomenological analysis, Psychotherapist training, Self-determination, Self-practice, Self-reflection.