A Survey of the Attitudes and Practice Experiences of Home-Based Practitioners

Abstract

This article reports on the findings from a study that assessed the attitudes and practice experiences of home-based therapists. Existing research in the field of couple and family therapy encompasses largely qualitative information detailing the experiences of this therapist population. We explored several hypotheses generated from the qualitative literature on home-based therapy. Study results corroborated much of the qualitative data on home-based therapists' experiences and reveal the profile of today's home-based therapists along with their attitudes and therapeutic practices. A surprising result was that various aspects of home-based therapy models seem incongruent with therapist attitudes about the delivery of home-based services.Keywords Home-based family therapy Á Home-based therapists Á Survey of home-based family therapist Home-based therapy is a growing and important aspect of service delivery to families. Yet, there is still much to learn about the practices and challenges of home-based therapy professionals (Lindblad-Goldberg et al. 1998;Thomas et al. 1999;Woodford et al. 2006;Yorgason et al. 2005). In this article, we report the findings of a research study which, using a national survey method, explored the attitudes and practice experiences of homebased therapists from three disciplines: marriage and family therapy, social work, and counseling. For the purpose of this study, home-based therapy services are understood to be therapy services delivered in whole or in part in the home setting to all or part of a family.

Attitudes of Counselors Regarding Ethical Situations Encountered by In-Home Counselors

“…Another study, conducted by Worth (2004), sought to examine the attitudes, experiences, and practice concerns of in-home counselors (N = 174). Included in these experiences were ethical dilemmas that were encountered by in-home clinicians.…”

“…Along with the benefits of this rising modality come challenges as well. More specifically, the literature has documented concerns in safety (Christensen, 1995), environmental distractions (Worth, 2004), counselor training and preparation (Adams & Maynard, 2000;Stinchfield, 2004), and supervision (Lawson, 2005). All of these items point to the overarching ethical and boundary-related issues that have recently been given considerable attention (Christensen, 1995;Knapp & Slattery, 2004;Lawson, 2005;Thomas et al, 1999;Woodford, 1999).…”

“…The overall lack of required education and training of in-home counselors, combined with the very challenging population of clients that is commonly served in their homes, along the unique environment in which clients are served lends support to significance of such a study. Previous research studies regarding attitudes of ethical situations have been conducted using professional association directories (Roberts, 2006;Worth, 2004), which generally contain members with more advanced degrees than this study planned to include.…”

Taking Access to the Community: An Ecological Systems Framework for In‐Home Counseling With Older Adults

“…Policy makers believed individuals could be effectively treated in their communities with the assistance of their family and friends (Kepic, Randolph, & Hermann‐Turner, ; Qualls, ). Throughout the 1940s, various legislations were enacted to provide vocational services and outpatient treatment centers for veterans or other individuals struggling with mental illness (Worth & Blow, ).…”

Experiences of Family Therapists Working with Families in a Transitional Homeless Community

“…The experiences and reflections of therapists are important in understanding the process of therapy, therapeutic interventions, and pyschoeducation programs (La Torre, 2005). Studies have documented the experiences and/or reflections of therapist in role-plays of therapeutic sessions (Rober, Elliott, Buysse, Loots, & De Corte, 2008), providing home-based therapy (Worth & Blow, 2010) and manualized or empirically supported programs (Sanberg & Knestel, 2011). Not only is reflecting on experiences by therapist important to personal and professional growth (La Torre, 2005), this reflection is also important in understanding the therapist's process of implementing manualized or empirically supported programs (Sanberg & Knestel, 2011).…”