Coping Dynamics of Consulting Psychology Doctoral Students Transitioning a Professional Role Identity: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

Abstract

To remain relevant and valuable, the psychology profession in South Africa continues to transform and evolve in response to the changing needs of society. Some psychologists embark on development opportunities to advance their professional qualifications and skills. In doing so, they experience identity tensions inherent to professional identity development and transformation. Understanding how psychologists cope with professional identity transition will enable them to develop a self-efficacious service offering and broaden the reach of psychology in the South African context. The aim of this study was to explore the identity work of a group of eight consulting psychology doctoral students to develop a system psychodynamic understanding of their coping dynamics while transitioning to a professional role identity. Students’ self-reflective essays about becoming a consulting psychologist constituted the data protocols for the study and were analysed through hermeneutic phenomenological analysis. Findings describe how students cope with performance and survival anxieties through anti-task behaviour and immature as well as sophisticated psychodynamic defences. The study contributes to the exploration of the coping concept and its manifestation, by proposing defensive coping as a natural dynamic phenomenon in the process of adapting to a transforming professional identity.

The identity conflict process: Appraisal theory as an integrative framework for understanding identity conflict at work.

“…These strategies can help reduce employee appraisals of their multiple identities as incompatible. Moreover, managers could be trained to recognize the signals that employees are experiencing identity conflict—for example, depletion, negative affect, diminished performance, and disengagement (Barnard & Flotman, 2020; Daoust & Malsch, 2019; Jensen & Deemer, 2019), so that they can better intervene to help employees cope with identity conflict.…”

“…Similarly, sometimes definitions of identity tension overlap with identity conflict (“The stresses and strains experienced by an individual in relation to the interaction between her or his personal identity and a given social identity”; Kreiner et al, 2006, p. 1034), and in other instances they do not (“Identity tensions between previously known meanings of the self and new role expectations”; Barnard & Flotman, 2020, p. 2). In the first definition, two forms of identity content—associated with a personal and a social identity—are incompatible and cause difficulties enacting the identities, as indicated in “stresses and strains.” However, in the second definition, identity or “known meanings of the self” are misaligned with external role expectations, not between two elements of identity content.…”

“…Identity conflict may also be coupled with affective states that drive outcomes and responses. Most centrally, identity conflict can increase anxiety, distress, and exhaustion (Barnard & Flotman, 2020; Davis & Olesen, 1963; Empson, 2013; Jensen & Deemer, 2019; Shams, 2019; Woodard & Sherman, 2015). For example, Anicich and Hirsh (2017) argued that conflict between one’s identities as a manager and as an employee can lead to activation of the behavioral inhibition system that is coupled with anxiety.…”

“…That being said, scholars have used a wide range of identity theories to explain aspects of identity conflict, and we privileged the dominant approaches. However, we recognize that there are several other theories that could shed new light on the outcomes of and responses to identity conflict but have, as of yet, only been used sparingly, for example, conservation of resources (Chen et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2020; McAllister et al, 2015; Yang et al, 2021), discursive/narrative theory (Humphreys & Brown, 2002; Kourti et al, 2018; Trent, 2012; Walker, 2001; Wright et al, 2012), and psychodynamic and psychoanalytic theory (Barnard & Flotman, 2020; Brown, 2006; Hollway, 2010). We hope that future research can use the theoretical underpinnings that we have spelled out as stepping stones to future theoretical advancements through either more fully leveraging the dominant theories explicated here or drawing on additional theoretical traditions.…”

Salutogenesis and Coping: Ways to Overcome Stress and Conflict

“…Antony Bernard and Aden Paul Flotman [10], explore the identity work of a group of eight consulting psychology doctoral students. The students wrote self-reflective essays about becoming a consulting psychologist and findings describe how students cope with performance.…”