Psychotherapy expertise in Singapore: A qualitative investigation.
Personal characteristics, developmental influences, and therapy practices of nine peer-nominated expert psychotherapists practicing in the diverse country of Singapore were identified using qualitative methods. Sixteen themes were organized within four categories: (a) personal characteristics (empathic, nonjudgmental, respectful); (b) developmental influences (experience, self-awareness, humility, self-doubt); (c) approach to practice (balance between support and challenge, flexible therapeutic stance, empowerment/strength-based approach, primacy of the therapeutic alliance, comfortable addressing spirituality, embraces working within a multicultural context); and (d) ongoing professional growth (professional development practices, benefits of teaching/training others, challenges to professional development in Singapore). Cross-cultural comparisons between this study and Jennings and Skovholt's (1999) study of Minnesota expert psychotherapists found considerable overlap of themes. Implications for research and practice of psychotherapy are offered.
Jennings
Len
L
Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA. lljennings@stthomas.edu
D'Rozario
Vilma
V
Goh
Michael
M
Sovereign
Ashley
A
Brogger
Megan
M
Skovholt
Thomas
T
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D002605:Character; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D012649:Self Concept; D012846:Singapore; D014481:United States