Dissertation Title:

Therapist’s Lived Experience of Client Trauma

Candidate:

Em Goodman

Date, Time & Place:

November 5, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Townhouse, Lambert Road campus


Abstract

This study focused on the lived experience of therapists whose clients report traumatic experiences. The experience of listening to traumatic narratives was explored in order to discover any levels of awareness of hostility or other negative reactions towards clients, as well as the therapist’s ability to separate their own feelings from those of the client. Some major factors that emerged from the interviews were the somatic responses that were elicited as a direct response to countertransference, as well as the ability to stay empathic when a traumatic narrative mirrored the therapist’s personal story. The results from the study may help the psychotherapeutic field to better understand how listening to traumatic narratives affect therapists.

Note

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Details
  • Program/Track/Year: Clinical Psychology, Track OP, 2013
  • Chair: Dr. Lee Weiser
  • Reader: Dr. Brenda Murrow
  • External Reader: Dr. Daniel Bruzzone
  • Keywords: Trauma, Countertransference, Empathy, Somatic, Narrative