title: Psychotherapy expertise in Singapore: A qualitative investigation.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA. lljennings@stthomas.edu
authors.forename: Len
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.forename: Vilma
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: D'Rozario
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sovereign
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brogger
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skovholt
mesh_terms: 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