Developing Reflexivity through Group Processes in Psychotherapy Training: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Systemic Family Therapy Trainees’ Experience

Abstract

Constructionist approaches in the field of systemic family therapy prioritize reflexivity to promote personal development within training, often leaning on group processes. Drawing from a qualitative study we conducted to address the lack of related research, we present how systemic family therapy trainees experience reflexivity development through group processes. Ten systemic family therapy trainees participated in semi-structured interviews, transcribed and analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis presented here reports three superordinate themes: Developing reflexivity through challenges and rewards, A conditional reflexive space within the training group, and Encountering the dynamics of identity via reflexive group processes. Our findings suggest that trainees experience reflexivity development as a complex relational process of personal development, highlighting the training group's critical role, nonetheless depending on certain preconditions. The importance of further exploring group processes' potential for reflexivity development in psychotherapy training is underscored.

#ThisIsMeChallenge and Music for Empowerment of Marginalized Groups on TikTok

“…As a result, we observed a high degree of subjectivity in the comments, as well as a clear positive attitude, showing the community's support for the empowerment of these groups. These data demonstrated growing activist support for marginalized groups through expressions of free and inclusive self-choice (Givropoulou & Tseliou, 2021).…”

“…In this regard, video activism is transferred to TikTok and relies on the appropriation of a media and storytelling discourse through representation (the set of words, statements, and emotions concerning an injustice or inequality) and reflexivity (the set of confronted values where community notions are expressed; Meneses-Rocha & Castillo-González, 2016). Therefore, reflexivity is a resilient process by which people express values that enhance a community sense of freedom, choice, and empowerment (Givropoulou & Tseliou, 2021).…”

“…In this study we built a codebook based on studies about digital empowerment to define the sociodemographic variables of TikTokers (George et al, 2021), on the representation and reflexivity of identity (Meneses-Rocha & Castillo-González, 2016), as well as on hate speech on TikTok (Weimann & Masri, 2020) to analyze the performances (see complete codebook at https:// doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14903064.v1). As we highlighted above, representation referred to unjust or unequal issues (Meneses-Rocha & Castillo-González, 2016), and reflexivity concerned a resilience process whereby a community expresses its value (Givropoulou & Tseliou, 2021).…”

Open dialogue trainees' perspectives on learning processes and psychotherapeutic practice: A prospective focus group study

“…Reflective training processes, such as peer discussions, reflecting team exercises, and personal family-of-origin work, are frequently also central in more conventional courses. Studies of more conventional family therapy training have indicated that trainees' experi-| 1003 enced personal and professional change as a result of engaging with reflective processes and that this reflective form of learning had altered their worldview and understandings of themselves and relationships with others, see for instance (Fragkiadaki et al, 2013;Givropoulou & Tseliou, 2021;Rhodes et al, 2011). In line with our study, these studies have also emphasized the importance of establishing trust and safety between trainees and the resulting community of practice, which fosters a sense of belonging, acceptance, and support from fellow trainees (Fragkiadaki et al, 2013;Givropoulou & Tseliou, 2021).…”