What Can We Learn From the World’s Master Therapists?

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Murdock ◽  
Leslie A. Stapley
Keyword(s):  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth R. Pitman ◽  
Mark J. Hilsenroth ◽  
Rachel E. Goldman ◽  
Saryn R. Levy ◽  
Deborah F. Siegel ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
pp. 53-76
Author(s):  
Michael Sullivan ◽  
Thomas M. Skovholt ◽  
Len Jennings

Qualitative research methods were used to elicit master therapists' statements regarding their use and understanding of the therapy relationship. The master therapists were identified and recruited in a previous study (Jennings & Skovholt, 1999) through a procedure used to create a sample of information-rich cases. The result of the analysis is a Model of Relationship Stances. The Safe Relationship Domain is composed of three categories of therapist actions: Responding, Collaborating, and Joining. The Challenging Relationship Domain also is composed of three categories of therapist actions: Using Self, Engaging, and Objectivity. The domains and categories are conceptualized as relationship stances utilized by the master therapists to meet individual client needs.


2016 ◽  
pp. 31-52

Cognitive, emotional, and relational characteristics among 10 peer-nominated master therapists were identified through qualitative research methods. Results suggest that master therapists (a) are voracious learners; (b) draw heavily on accumulated experiences; (c) value cognitive complexity and ambiguity; (d) are emotionally receptive; (e) are mentally healthy and mature and attend to their own emotional well-being; (f) are aware of how their emotional health impacts their work; (g) possess strong relationship skills; (h) believe in the working alliance; and (i) are experts at using their exceptional relational skills in therapy. These findings suggest that researchers studying therapist expertise may want to explore emotional and relational characteristics in addition to an almost exclusive focus on the therapist's cognitive attributes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Len Jennings ◽  
Ashley Sovereign ◽  
Nancy Bottorff ◽  
Melissa Pederson Mussell ◽  
Christopher Vye

This study employed the Consensual Qualitative Research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) to reanalyze interview data from a previous qualitative study of the personal characteristics of master therapists (Jennings & Skovholt, 1999). Previous research has demonstrated that therapists utilize a variety of resources when making ethical decisions, including professional codes of conduct and their own values. The current study's analysis of 10 master therapists' interviews resulted in the identification of nine ethical values related to their clinical practice: (a) relational connection, (b) autonomy, (c) beneficence, (d) nonmaleficence, (e) competence, (f) humility, (g) professional growth, (h) openness to complexity and ambiguity, and (i) self-awareness. Conducting oneself ethically is a critical task of the competent therapist (American Psychological Association, 2002). Making the best ethical decisions can be extremely challenging for most therapists due to the multitude of complex ethical situations that arise in practice. The goal of this study is to examine the ethical values of therapists considered to be "the best of the best" by their professional colleagues. It is hoped that such an examination will help to illuminate the ethical values that these master therapists seem to draw upon in their work.


2014 ◽  
Vol 202 (11) ◽  
pp. 837
Author(s):  
René Hernandez Cardenaché
Keyword(s):  

The search for the best outcomes in psychotherapy and counseling has been a long and winding trail. Traditional research methods attempting to quantify expertise have yet to map the complex path and characteristics of expert psychotherapists and counselors. This book blazes a new trail using extensive qualitative research methods to understand psychotherapy experts. Ten peer-nominated, active practitioners representing four different professions were interviewed by three interviewers for a total of over 100 hours. Based on the data from these interviews, we offer a portrait of the master therapist as well as an exploration of central characteristics, emotional wellness and resiliency of masters, how they construct the therapy relationship, ethical values of these experts, a history of the concept of expertise, and a description of our research methods. Master Therapists continues to be a valuable resource for counseling and therapy practitioners and scholars because it explicates the cognitive, emotional, and relational (CER) model of counseling expertise and provides the initial context for the more recent surge of expertise studies in counseling and psychotherapy. This research-based qualitative work provides essential signposts and markers on the road to psychotherapy expertise.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Sullivan ◽  
Thomas M. Skovholt ◽  
Len Jennings

Qualitative research methods were used to elicit master therapists' statements regarding their use and understanding of the therapy relationship. The master therapists were identified and recruited in a previous study (Jennings & Skovholt, 1999) through a procedure used to create a sample of information-rich cases.The result of the analysis is a Model of Relationship Stances.The Safe Relationship Domain is composed of three categories of therapist actions: Responding, Collaborating, and Joining. The Challenging Relationship Domain also is composed of three categories of therapist actions: Using Self, Engaging, and Objectivity.The domains and categories are conceptualized as relationship stances utilized by the master therapists to meet individual client needs.


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