Phenomenological Analysis of the Dynamics of Clients’ Experience in the Process of Psychotherapy: A Case-Study. Part 2

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Abstract

The paper reports the results of the phenomenological study of client experiences in the process of psychotherapy. It describes the stages of categorization, generalization, and interpretation of data. We raised the following questions: what changes happen to client experiences during the same treatment session and between sessions; and how these changes relate to the components of optimal experience. The sample consisted of 6 people aged 32—53, 5 women, and one man. One female client attended four meetings with a psychotherapist; the male and four female clients attended three meetings each. The transcripts were coded by two independent experts, followed by a joint discussion. First, unique semantic units were marked, then the statements were coded and categorized by experts. We give an account of the generalized dynamics of client experiences. The results of applying the categorical grid of the model of optimal experience to the dynamics of client experiences are presented separately. The yielded results can be interpreted as qualitative effectiveness markers of psychotherapeutic work.

General Information

Keywords: psychotherapy, psychotherapy effectiveness, experience, phenomenological analysis, client’s changes

Journal rubric: Theory and Methodology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2020280302

Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number №16-36-01020.

Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to Ani Avdalyan and Natalia Goryuk for assistance in data analysis.

For citation: Kiselnikova N.V., Lavrova E.V., Almukhametova T.N., Kuminskaya E.A., Rzaeva F.R. Phenomenological Analysis of the Dynamics of Clients’ Experience in the Process of Psychotherapy: A Case-Study. Part 2. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2020. Vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 8–24. DOI: 10.17759/cpp.2020280302. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Natalia V. Kiselnikova, PhD in Psychology, Assistant Professor, Head of Laboratory of Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, FBSSI «Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education», Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0710-4972, e-mail: nv_psy@mail.ru

Elena V. Lavrova, PhD in Psychology, Senior Researcher of the Laboratory of Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy, Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-4704, e-mail: may_day@list.ru

Tatyana N. Almukhametova, Researcher, Laboratory of Psychotherapy and Counseling Psychology, Federal State Budgetary Institution "Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education", Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2941-2549, e-mail: kardoula@yandex.ru

Evgenia A. Kuminskaya, Researcher, Laboratory of Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy, Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5650-1096, e-mail: evgenia.kuminskaya@gmail.com

Fatima R. Rzaeva, Graduate Student of theDepartment of Personality Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3753-9400, e-mail: fatimarzaeva05@gmail.com

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