Psychoanalytically informed interview techniques and interview analysis can yield useful psychoanalytic insights about a particular research subject within the space of a few interviews. Basic hermeneutic principles, often used to understand the research interview, are not sufficient for understanding unconscious meaning and intrapsychic processes; they pay little attention to the particular theoretical and technical aspects of the interview needed to create the best conditions for understanding unconscious meaning. The portability of psychoanalytic concepts and their applicability outside the therapeutic setting are considered, after which four epistemological principles are outlined, derived mainly from the narrative tradition in psychoanalysis, that can inform interview technique and the analysis of the interview. Careful attention to feeling states, the search for core narratives, and the exploration of identifications and object relations are isolated as key analytic tasks in the interview analysis. A brief verbatim interview is used to illustrate this process, and methods are suggested to prevent the "wild analysis" of the interview encounter.

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The unprecedented magnitude and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have rendered it a highly disruptive and traumatic phenomenon. This paper considers the impact of Covid-19 on South African students and Student Counseling Services in Higher Education. The paper specifically reflects on shifts in student mental health and psycho-social vulnerability as a consequence of the pandemic, and the increased demand for the student counselor advocacy role. The inevitable need for technological shifts to traditional student counseling practice is considered, as well as the transformational dilemma or "double-edged sword" inherent in such change, given the historical, psycho-social, and economic complexities of South African society which impact on student access and participation in Higher Education. The paper lastly considers the adoption of a customized or "blended" student counseling approach that incorporates traditional and technological-based elements, and that can accommodate student personal and mental health needs, preferences as well as contextual peculiarities and challenges.

Aim This study explores trainees’ subjective experiences and perceptions of non‐disclosure in clinical supervision, offering a rich, detailed understanding of non‐disclosure from the trainees’ perspective. Method Eight trainees were interviewed, and transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings Four super‐ordinate themes were identified and form the focus of this paper: (a) Purposeful non‐disclosures (b) Factors that prevent and facilitate trainee disclosures (c) Learning from the supervisor and (d) The implications for the trainee's learning and therapy. Conclusion/Implications Exploring the issue of non‐disclosures from the trainees’ perspective reveals that the “cycle of non‐disclosure” in clinical supervision can be understood as part of a subversive power dynamic in service of self‐preservation and protection of the vulnerable “trainee self.” The underlying dynamics related to power relations were also strongly associated with perceptions of knowledge and professional identity.

Prevalence rates of negative supervision events among Psychology interns in South Africa are non-existent. This article investigates the incidence of negative supervision events and explores the influence of various contextual variables on supervision outcomes. Quantitative data were obtained via a web survey from a sample (N = 92) of Clinical and Counselling psychology interns across nine provinces in South Africa. In all, 42 (or 45.6%) of the 92 participants had a negative supervision event during their internship, 26.19% categorized their experience as ‘Harmful’, and 73.81% (or 31) had an ‘Inadequate’ experience. A total of 14 (or 22.6%) interns experienced a negative supervision event on a weekly basis. Proportionately more White interns reported experiencing negative supervision events and had the highest number of reported harmful experiences. Neither race nor gender significantly impacted the feedback and evaluation process. A significantly larger number of mixed race and mixed culture dyads reported harmful negative supervision compared to same race/culture dyads. There was no significant positive relationship between inadequate or harmful negative supervision event and sexual orientation, theoretical orientation, gender, religion, and language. Implications for training and professional development are discussed.

Trainee therapists or psychologists starting to practice psychotherapy are met with a number of inherent difficulties in engaging their clients in the treatment process. Using interpersonal process recall and interpretive phenomenological analysis, 18 counselling/clinical psychology trainees were interviewed about core difficulties they faced in engaging their clients in a therapeutic process. Interviews look place after 10 weeks of training and trainees were asked to self-select a single video-taped session for the interview. The analysis uncovered seven main themes: (1) difficulties with 'personal material'; (2) difficulties with certainty, control, and idealized intentions; (3) frustrations with the client's presentation; (4) difficulty in becoming the focus of attention; (5) reactions triggered by perceived exclusion; (6) anxieties about difference; and (7) interpersonal strategies to manage intense emotions. Findings are understood to be organized around the trainee's struggle for self-definition and agency at the expense of empathic relating.Novice 1 therapists are faced with a number of challenges associated with acquiring clinical skills, engaging in supervision, and treating clients (

Evidence regarding the diagnostic dilemmas, course, co-morbidity, and aetiology of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is reviewed. After considering problems that the clinician and researcher face in using BPD as a diagnostic category, I argue that current evidence indicates that there is reason to be more optimistic about the course of BPD. Emerging dilemmas in considering comorbidity in the BPD patient are considered. Aetiological factors are presented in support of a 'multiple pathways' model of aetiology where characterological and temperamental characteristics interact in complex idiosyncratic ways.

This article reviews the role of psychopathology and personality in offenders who have committed acts of rage-type murder. The possible role of depression, PTSD, psychotic disorders, intellectual functioning and alcohol/drug abuse are critically considered. It is argued that although some forms of psychopathology may be indicated in some cases, these still remain in the minority. This seems to be consistent with findings that describe such offenders as ‘apparently normal’. In an attempt to explain this further, the character profile and psychodynamics of personality are reviewed. A pattern of overcontrol is isolated as a key theme that best explains the ‘apparent normality’ of the rage-type offender. The relevance of the DSM-IV classification system of personality disorders for understanding this kind of criminal is considered. It is argued that a particular type of borderline personality organisation, not isolated by the DSM-IV system, best explains this character pattern.