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Abstract
While considerable research has examined how clients learn from psychotherapists, there is only sparse literature on what therapists learn from their therapy clients. In a qualitative, exploratory study, nine researchers interviewed 61 psychologists from across North America in order to see what psychotherapists may have learned and how they have been affected by their clients both personally and professionally. Participants responded to nine open-ended questions on learning about life-lessons, relationships, ethical decision-making, coping, courage, wisdom, psychopathology, personality, cultural differences, lifespan development and more. Participants’ richly elaborated responses were coded thematically and narrative data illustrates the most frequent themes. Therapists reported learning a great deal across each of the questions, consistently expressing respect for their clients' resilience, courage and moral sensibilities.
Keywords
Therapist Development, Therapy Relationship, Client Wisdo, Cultural Difference, Life Lessons
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from the Provost’s Office at Fielding Graduate University. Thanks to Dr. Dan Sewell and Ms. Marlene Zimels for assistance with the grant, to Ms. Louise Keeler for her IRB guidance and to Dr. Robert L. Hatcher for his suggestions on an earlier draft of this article. We want to express particular appreciation to the psychologists who participated in our study.
Publication Date
11-26-2012
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
DOI
10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1702
Recommended APA Citation
Hatcher, S. L., Kipper-Smith, A., Waddell, M., Uhe, M., West, J. S., Boothe, J. H., Frye, J. M., Tighe, K., Usselman, K. L., & Gingras, P. (2012). What Therapists Learn from Psychotherapy Clients: Effects on Personal and Professional Lives. The Qualitative Report, 17(48), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1702
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