Training Through Naming: A Process of Psychotherapist Skill Development Utilizing Recursive Frame Analysis

Authors

Michael D. Reiter, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Wonbin Faith Jung, Nova Southeastern University
Jessica Popham, Nova Southeastern University
Caitlin Fitzgerald, Nova Southeastern University
Emily Garcia, Nova Southeastern University
Mariana Guzman de Perez, Nova Southeastern University
Tiffany Lockhart, Nova Southeastern University
Noelle Villanueva, Nova Southeastern University

Abstract

Recursive frame analysis (RFA) is both an advanced qualitative research method and a therapeutic tool that is used to map psychotherapy discourse. RFA tracks the therapeutic conversation to show how the therapy talk moves from one act to another. This paper describes the implementation of a training process for family therapy students in a family therapy clinic and the student therapists’ experiences of learning through this process, called Naming the Session. We present the organic development of the training process, its roots in RFA, and the student therapists’ perceptions of how Naming the Session impacted them as trainees. We further present how Naming the Session was useful in the growth of supervisors-in-training who were also a part of this training process.

Keywords

Psychotherapist Training, Recursive Frame Analysis

Author Bio(s)

Michael D. Reiter, Ph.D. is a Professor of Family Therapy in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine in the Department of Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University. Wonbin Faith Jung and Jessica Popham are Ph.D. candidates, Mariana Guzman de Perez a DMFT student, and Caitlin Fitzgerald, Emily Garcia, Tiffany Lockhart, and Noelle Villanueva are Master’s students in Nova Southeastern University's Family Therapy program. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: mdreiter@nova.edu.

Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge the other student therapists who took part in the Naming the Session process.

Publication Date

8-9-2020

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4330

Recommended APA Citation

Reiter, M. D., Jung, W. F., Popham, J., Fitzgerald, C., Garcia, E., Guzman de Perez, M., Lockhart, T., & Villanueva, N. (2020). Training Through Naming: A Process of Psychotherapist Skill Development Utilizing Recursive Frame Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 25(8), 2085-2099. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4330