Exploring psychologists’ perceptions on how they integrate their own cultural belief systems within the therapeutic relationship in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa
- Authors: Potso, Thando
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Psychologist -- Eastern Cape , Cultural competence , South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/58936 , vital:60249
- Description: While there is extensive research exploring the influence of a client’s cultural beliefs on the therapeutic process; there is still a scarcity of information on how the cultural beliefs held by a psychologist may affect or influence the therapeutic process. Psychologists are trained to work with clients objectively by suspending their own beliefs, ideas, and values. Despite this, it would be interesting to explore how South African psychologists’ personal belief systems are navigated within the therapeutic space. Given the diversity of cultures within the South African context, it becomes important to explore and understand psychologists’ cultural belief systems, as they may influence the therapeutic relationship but to also, understand how they assimilate these belief systems into the therapeutic relationships with diverse clients. Drawing on the qualitative methodology, the study sought to draw participants using a purposive sampling technique. Participants were sourced through different databases, such as the Eastern Cape database of registered and practicing psychologists. Participants who agreed to partake in the study were sent an email with the interview schedule and the link to either MS Teams or Zoom, depending on their preference. The collected data was transcribed and then analysed using thematic analysis through which three themes and six sub-themes were identified and discussed. The identified themes are as follows; 1) Culture as perceived by psychologists, 2) Cultural beliefs in therapy and, 3) The therapeutic alliance. The study found that shared cultural beliefs between psychologists and clients facilitated rapport building. It allowed the therapeutic process to move in a positive direction. The study applied the principles of ethics and trustworthiness. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-04
Psychologists’ perceptions of cultural competence in working with clients from diverse cultures in psychotherapy within the Nelson Mandela Bay area
- Authors: Sdinane, Thembeka Gloria
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Cultural competence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46453 , vital:39597
- Description: There has beenanincreasedacknowledgement of the need for current psychological interventions to meet the needs of the diverse cultural contexts reflective of the SouthAfrican clients. As such, researchers began exploring, enhancing,and evaluating modelsof psychotherapy, applicable to the cultures of the diverse clients. To address disparities caused by Eurocentricepistemologies that fail to recognise the impact of culture on clients, the concept of cultural competence was introduced.While there is international literature available on cultural competence in psychotherapy, there is still a significant gap in South African literature.Consequently, this study explored psychologists’ perceptions of cultural competence when working with diverse clients in psychotherapy. A general exploratory qualitative approach informed this study. The qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Using a purposive sampling strategy, registered clinical and counselling psychologists who are in private practice were selected. A total of 6 participants were interviewed.The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the thematic analysis method was used to analyse data with aid from the Atlas.ti coding Software. Findings of this study are presented using the four identified themes i) Complexities of working with diverse cultures, ii) knowledge limitation hinders complete cultural competence, iii) Actions towards cultural competence and iv) The geographical context. The findings of this study suggest that the idea of complete cultural competence in psychological therapyis not plausible, given the nuances embedded within South African society. As such, the researcher suggests a move from cultural competence to cultural effectiveness as an alternative that could potentially create aplatform that bridges the gap between psychological science and the nuances posed by cultures.
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- Date Issued: 2020