Talking sticks and BMW's: ritual, power and authority in a psychotherapy training placement
This study explores trainees' experiences of power dynamics within a ritualised training context, with reference to the three major aspects of the study: training, ritual and power. The psychotherapeutic training took place at Agape, a community-based counselling service in Mamelodi, whose t...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Others |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Jansen, Shahieda (2009) Talking sticks and BMW's: ritual, power and authority in a psychotherapy training placement, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/603> http://hdl.handle.net/10500/603 |
| Summary: | This study explores trainees' experiences of power dynamics within a
ritualised training context, with reference to the three major aspects of the study:
training, ritual and power. The psychotherapeutic training took place at Agape, a
community-based counselling service in Mamelodi, whose theoretical approach to
training included a mixture of postmodern, ecosystemic and African traditions. A
substantial literature survey examines the major concepts and issues related to the
research subject, such as psychotherapeutic training approaches, the philosophies and
theories that may inform training procedures, ritual practices in psychotherapy, and
organisational and power aspects of psychotherapeutic training. The research process
was executed using the qualitative, interpretive research methodology. A sample of
six of the trainees who had completed their training at this placement was
interviewed, and two of the trainers. The researcher's reflections on her own training
experiences are woven into the material. Using the interview technique and through
asking a series of open-ended questions, the researcher obtained an account of the
subjective, sacralised training interactions at Agape. Themes were identified that had
emerged during the interview process. In brief, the themes referred to trainees'
theoretical and practical experiences in the training placement, how they made sense
of the sacralised therapeutic experiences, and comments on their relationship with
trainers and fellow trainees. The most common theme that emerged was that of
power. The end product of this study portrays the trainees' understandings of power
within a sacralised psychotherapeutic context and their responses to this. This study
makes explicit the links between ritualisation and power within an evaluative
psychotherapeutic training context, and the consequences of this for training. === Psychology === M.A. (Clinical Psychology) |
|---|