The Process of Change in Couples Therapy: A Qualitative Investigation

Christensen, Lisa; Russell, Candyce S.; Miller, Rick B.; Peterson, Carla A.

doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.1998.tb01074.x

Cited by 69 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The theme "Equal Treatment of Both Partners" parallels findings reported in a few studies (Christensen, Russell, Miller, & Peterson, 1998;Wark, 1994;Wile, 1981). The Christensen et al (1998, p.183) study uses the term "fairness" to describe a situation in which "there are no fixed alignments or coalitions in which the therapist and one spouse join against the other."…”

Section: Downloaded By [Oakland University] At 03:07 25 November 2014supporting

confidence: 67%

“…A theme that does not appear in the literature on client perceptions is "Safety in Session Structure," although related ideas have been discussed by some therapists working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse (e.g., Dolan, 1991) and in terms of a trusting connection with the therapist (Christensen et al, 1998). It is possible that the emergence of this theme in the present research reflects a trend towards increased sensitivity on the parts of therapists about how they are affecting their clients (Becvar, Becvar, & Bender, 1982).…”

Section: Downloaded By [Oakland University] At 03:07 25 November 2014mentioning

confidence: 97%

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Client Perceptions of Couples Therapy: Helpful and Unhelpful Aspects

Bowman

Fine

2000

The American Journal of Family Therapy

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Section: Downloaded By [Oakland University] At 03:07 25 November 2014supporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Downloaded By [Oakland University] At 03:07 25 November 2014mentioning

confidence: 97%

Client Perceptions of Couples Therapy: Helpful and Unhelpful Aspects

Bowman

Fine

2000

The American Journal of Family Therapy

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“…Sells, Smith, and Moon (1996) interviewed clients about their perceptions of therapy effectiveness. Christensen, Russel, Miller, and Peterson (1998) asked clients in marital therapy to describe therapist facilitating behaviors and turning points in therapy and Helmeke and Sprenkle (2000) asked clients in couples' therapy to describe pivotal moments. Bowman and Fine (2000) asked couples who were in, or had newly completed, couples' therapy what they perceived as helpful and unhelpful about their therapy experiences and regarding the therapist's activities.…”

Section: Helpful and Hindering Factors In Different Therapy Modalitiementioning

confidence: 99%

Therapy talk and talk about therapy : Client-identified important events in psychotherapy

Viklund¹

2014

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Capturing and studying the moments in psychotherapy that clients find most important can help us understand more about how psychotherapy works, what the curative ingredients are, and by what processes they are mediated. Qualitative research in this area has, so far, mainly focused on describing, and categorizing clients' experiences of important factors and events. The methods employed to analyse the data have been rather limited in variation and are usually based on a realist epistemology, according to which data are basically treated as reflections of the clients' actual experiences. This entails a risk of overlooking and obscuring other aspects of therapy and the therapy process that are equally important to explore, for example the microprocesses of interaction within important events, or how clients' accounts of their experiences are shaped and limited by the context in which they are produced. The overall aim of this licentiate thesis was to explore client-identified important events in psychotherapy with a focus on studying therapy talk and talk about therapy from a social constructionist point of view, which would allow a closer exploration of the understudied areas mentioned above.In Study I, Conversation Analysis was used to explore the interaction taking place between seven client-therapist dyads in 16 client-identified important events collected from their third sessions. The analysis identified that 12 of the events contained clients' expressions of disagreement. Three different ways that the therapists handled the disagreement were discerned: The first, and most common, way was to orient to the client's cues of disagreement by inviting the client to elaborate on his or her point of view and to establish a shared understanding acceptable to both participants. The second way was to orient to the client's disagreement cues but define the therapist's own point view as more relevant than the client's, and the third way was a single case in which the therapist did not in any way orient to the client's disagreement cues.In Study II, two qualitative methods based on different epistemologies were used to analyse the same set of eight clients' accounts of 18 important events. The aim was to first identify what types of events clients describe as important, and then explore how their accounts of these events were contextually shaped and organized, and the consequences of this. The first analysis, a content analysis, yielded descriptions of five different types of events, which were similar to the ones found in previous research on important events. The second analysis, a discourse analysis, demonstrated how clients' accounts were not only influenced by the participants' ability to accurately remember and report their experience, but also by what was sayable within the context of the research interview. In conclusion, the two studies demonstrate how qualitative methods based on a socialconstructive perspective can contribute to our understanding of clientidentified important events by highlighting and ...

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“…optimism/hope, empathy, safety/trust and insight as 'common process variables' (Christensen, Russell, Miller, & Peterson, 1998), and communication and conflict management skills (CCM) of the couple as 'specific process variables' (Halford et al, 1993).…”

Section: Validity and Reliability Of Teqmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrative Practice: Presentation of an Inpatient Family Therapy Program

Tilden

2008

Journal of Family Psychotherapy

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The Process of Change in Couples Therapy: A Qualitative Investigation

Cited by 69 publications

References 23 publications

Client Perceptions of Couples Therapy: Helpful and Unhelpful Aspects

Client Perceptions of Couples Therapy: Helpful and Unhelpful Aspects

Therapy talk and talk about therapy : Client-identified important events in psychotherapy

Integrative Practice: Presentation of an Inpatient Family Therapy Program

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