When Therapists Cry: Implications for Supervision and Training

Blume-Marcovici, Amy; Stolberg, Ronald A.; Khademi, Mojgan; Giromini, Luciano

doi:10.1080/07325223.2015.1048556

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…We know that participants are rightly concerned about how their crying, as therapists, may affect clients. More explicit discussion of such events in training and supervision, then, may help trainees better understand both the stimuli for such crying, as well as the potential effects, echoing the recommendations of Blume-Marcovici, Stolberg, Khademi, and Giromini (2015). Such discussions may be especially prudent as trainees approach termination, a phase of therapy that may more frequently elicit crying.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Blume-Marcovici, Stolberg, Khademi, and Giromini (2015) also examined training and supervision related to therapist crying. The overwhelming majority (96.5%) of their 686 psychologist and trainee participants indicated that psychologists should be trained how to manage their emotions, but only 36.4% had actually received such training.…”

Section: Empirical Literature About Therapist Cryingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crying in psychotherapy: The perspective of therapists and clients.

et al. 2017

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Eighteen U.S.-based doctoral students in counseling or clinical psychology were interviewed by phone regarding experiences of crying in therapy. Specifically, they described crying as therapists with their clients, as clients with their therapists, and experiences when their therapists cried in the participants' therapy. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. When crying with their clients, therapists expressed concern about the appropriateness/impact of crying, cried only briefly and because they felt an empathic connection with their clients, thought that the crying strengthened the relationship, discussed the event with their supervisor, and wished they had discussed the event more fully with clients. Crying as clients was triggered by discussing distressing personal events, was accompanied by a mixture of emotions regarding the tears, consisted of substantial crying to express pain or sadness, and led to multiple benefits (enhanced therapy relationship, deeper therapy, and insight). When their therapists cried, the crying was brief, was triggered by discussions of termination, arose from therapists' empathic connection with participants, and strengthened the therapy relationship. Implications for research, training, and practice are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Empirical Literature About Therapist Cryingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crying in psychotherapy: The perspective of therapists and clients.

et al. 2017

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“…Laan et al., 2012; Millings et al., 2016; Rottenberg et al., 2008; Van Tilburg et al, 2002; Zingaretti et al, 2017). Similarly, the T‐CIT has shown good psychometric properties (Blume‐Marcovici, 2012) and has been used in previous explorations (Blume‐Marcovici et al., 2013, 2015). Therefore, all prior work on ACI and T‐CIT psychometric properties (Blume‐Marcovici, 2012; Peter et al., 2001; Rottenberg et al., 2008; Scheirs & Sijtsma, 2001) are consistent with this measure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

Katz

Ziv-Beiman

Rokah

et al. 2021

Couns and Psychother Res

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Patients' crying in psychotherapy can, at times, be an indicator of a healing process and reflect patients' engagement. This study explored the relationships between Israeli patients' crying in therapy, the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment styles, using similar procedures to the ones used by Genova et al. (2020; Psychotherapy, 58, 160) in a recent investigation of Italian patients. One hundred and thirteen patients completed an online survey in Hebrew about crying in therapy and self-report measures assessing the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment styles. Our findings revealed that self-reported working alliance was related to the patients' perceptions of their therapist responding to their most recent crying episode with support and compassion. Therapeutic change was associated with a tendency to cry in therapy and higher instances of crying in therapy during the last year. Patients with anxious-preoccupied attachment styles had more faith that crying would lead to being understood by their therapist. Dismissive-avoidant attachment style was related to higher likelihood of feeling like the most recent crying episode helped the patient understand things that they did not understand before and feel like their tears expressed things that words could not. Further, fearful-avoidant, anxious-preoccupied and dismissive-avoidant attachment styles were all related to stronger faith in the therapy relationship strengthening after crying. These findings are in line with, and expand on, Genova et al.'s (2020; Psychotherapy, 58, 160) findings regarding the therapy alliance, crying in therapy and attachment styles. Implications for the relationships between patient attachment style, therapy alliance, therapeutic change and crying in therapy are discussed.

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“…Psychotherapists, however, may feel ill-equipped to introduce this topic in counseling, as so few therapists have reported training on how to manage tears in therapy (Blume-Marcovici, Stolberg, Khademi, & Giromini, 2016). In fact, those therapists who experienced some form of training regarding crying during sessions reported feeling more prepared to handle such situations than respondents who had had no training (Blume-Marcovici et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This wish seems to be a shrewd one, as Blume-Marcovici et al (2015) found that the majority of respondents who had discussed their crying incident with clients also reported improvements in the therapeutic relationship following the discussion. Psychotherapists, however, may feel ill-equipped to introduce this topic in counseling, as so few therapists have reported training on how to manage tears in therapy (Blume-Marcovici, Stolberg, Khademi, & Giromini, 2016). In fact, those therapists who experienced some form of training regarding crying during sessions reported feeling more prepared to handle such situations than respondents who had had no training (Blume-Marcovici et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A qualitative study of psychotherapists’ in-session tears.

Morgan

Williams

2021

Psychotherapy

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There is little empirical research on the topic of psychotherapists crying with or in front of clients (Blume-Marcovici, 2017); however, therapists crying in therapy appears to happen more frequently than previously believed (t' Lam, Vingerhoets, & Bylsma, 2018). Although many clients believe that crying in session improves their relationship with their therapist (Zingaretti, Genova, Gazzillo, & Lingiardi, 2017), it is unclear how therapists' tears impact the psychotherapy process. For example, as some research has suggested that tearful individuals may be seen as less competent (van de Ven, Meijs, & Vingerhoets, 2017), it is possible that therapist tears are potential detriment to psychotherapy. However, therapists' tears might also have a positive effect on the therapeutic relationship if they are seen as evidence of therapist genuineness. To more deeply understand therapists' experiences of crying during a psychotherapy session, 8 practicing psychotherapists of varying theoretical orientations were interviewed using Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012;Hill et al., 2005;Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Overall, the therapists had a consistent positive perception of the consequences of their own tears, both on therapy in general as well as on the client-therapist relationship. However, they also acknowledged a lack of training in how to manage their own tears in session, confirming previous results (Blume-Marcovici, Stolberg, & Khademi, 2013) and suggesting that psychotherapists may not be fully prepared to manage tears in counseling. Implications for psychotherapists as well as directions for future research are discussed. Clinical Impact StatementQuestion: How do psychotherapists understand the role, function, and consequences of crying in session with clients? Findings: Psychotherapists generally reported that their tears were positive and helped deepen the therapeutic relationship, though they also expressed concerns about countertransference and a lack of training about crying in therapy. Meaning: In making decisions about when to cry or to suppress their tears, psychotherapists will need to assess on a case-by-case basis whether their tears, as a form of self-disclosure, are in the best service of the client and will enhance the therapeutic process or detract from it. Next Steps: Future research will be needed to help us better understand the impact of therapist tears on clients and therapeutic outcomes.

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When Therapists Cry: Implications for Supervision and Training

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

Crying in psychotherapy: The perspective of therapists and clients.

Crying in psychotherapy: The perspective of therapists and clients.

Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style

A qualitative study of psychotherapists’ in-session tears.

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