Rachel E. Crook-Lyon

Clients' perspectives on therapy termination

Abstract We used consensual qualitative research to analyze interviews with 12 clients about their termination from psychotherapy. Those who had positive termination experiences reported a strong therapeutic relationship and positive outcomes of therapy. They terminated primarily for logistical or financial reasons; their termination, post-termination plans, and feelings about termination were discussed in advance with their therapist, as was their growth in therapy, leading to mostly positive effects of the termination. In contrast, those who had problematic terminations reported a mixed therapeutic relationship and mixed outcomes of therapy. They usually terminated abruptly because of a therapeutic rupture, and thus termination was rarely planned and discussed in advance, rendering it a negative experience. Implications of these findings are addressed.

Working with Clients Who Have Religious/Spiritual Issues: A Survey of University Counseling Center Therapists.

University counseling center therapists (N = 220) completed an Internet survey about religion/spirituality in therapy, with 200 of these therapists describing therapy with a recent client whose issues involved religion/spirituality. Common client religion/spirituality issues were questioning ones childhood religion, exploring religion/spirituality beliefs, and using religion/spirituality as a source of strength. Similarity of therapist and client religion/spirituality values was not related to the strength of the therapeutic relationship. Therapists with higher levels of religious commitment tended to rate religion/spirituality goals as more important and use religion/spirituality interventions more frequently than therapists with lower levels of religious commitment. Finally, therapists with more religion/spirituality training had higher self-efficacy for working with religion/spirituality issues. Implications for practice, research, and training are discussed.

What’s It All About? A Qualitative Study of Undergraduate Students’ Beliefs About Meaning of Life:

Ten undergraduate students from psychology classes were interviewed regarding their beliefs about the meaning of life (definition, goals, limitations to goals, sources of meaning, and development of meaning). Interviews were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. These interviewees all indicated that meaning differs across people and time. Typical sources of meaning were relationships, altruism, career, personal growth, pursuit of happiness, and religion. Participants indicated that parents and life-changing experiences triggered changes in their thinking about meaning of life. Specific changes involved shifting from superficial to more meaningful pursuits and thinking more for themselves. Implications for further research and developing programs for helping undergraduate students examine issues related to meaning of life are offered.

Case studies of the attainment of insight in dream sessions: replication and extension

Abstract To replicate and extend the Hill, Knox, et al. (2007) case study of a client who attained insight in one session of dream work, the authors examined two additional single-session cases: one in which a client gained insight and another in which a client did not. The observations across all three cases suggest that the two clients who acquired insight had positive attitudes toward dreams; were motivated and involved in session; and were nonresistant, trusting, and affectively present but not overwhelmed. The client who did not gain insight questioned the value of dreams and was resistant, untrusting, and emotionally overwhelmed. Therapist adherence and competence using the dream model, ability to manage countertransference, and effective use of probes for insight distinguished the therapists whose clients gained insight from the therapist whose client did not.

The Attainment of Insight in the Hill Dream Model: A Case Study.

Source ISSN 9781591474777 Abstract Using a variety of different measurement methods, it has been shown that clients valued insight in dream sessions and that they gained insight into their dreams as a result of sessions. However, very little is known about the mechanisms through which insight is attained in dream sessions, other than the fact that client involvement and therapist adherence and competence are related to insight gains and that therapist interpretation may not be necessary for insight gains. Knowledge about how client insight develops in dream sessions might provide clues about how insight develops in therapy more generally, a useful pursuit given that insight is a major goal of many therapies. The purpose of the present study, then, was to investigate the development of insight within a single case of dream work. Because we currently know little about how insight develops in dream sessions and because insight might develop differently across clients, we studied one case of a client who developed insight during a dream session. We used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to maximize our ability to highlight the development of insight in this case. In this chapter we first describe the process and outcomes of the session, documenting that insight did occur. We then explore factors suggested from psychotherapy process research; dream work research; and our clinical experiences that may have facilitated or inhibited insight gains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)