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1 – 10 of 283Angelo Zappalà, Ivan Mangiulli, Pekka Santtila, Elizabeth F. Loftus and Henry Otgaar
The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive behavior therapists and trainees’s beliefs about various aspects of traumatic memory and to investigate cognitive behavior…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive behavior therapists and trainees’s beliefs about various aspects of traumatic memory and to investigate cognitive behavior therapists’ practices in relation to alleged traumatic experiences and whether they are linked with their beliefs about various aspects of traumatic memory.
Design/methodology/approach
In the current study, the authors surveyed, by a questionnaire (in Italian), certified Italian cognitive behavioral (CB) therapists and trainees with respect to their beliefs in traumatic memories and whether they discussed about the possibility of repressed memory with their patients.
Findings
The majority of participants held strong beliefs about many controversial aspects related to traumatic memory, such as the mind being able to block out of consciousness memories of traumatic experiences. Also, more than half of CB therapists stated that they sometimes discussed about the importance of traumatic events in the genesis of their patient’s disorder and half of them sometimes talked with patients about memories for traumatic events of which they may be unaware. Such practices could lead to false memories of abuse
Originality/value
One particularly novel finding relates to the evidence that therapists reported that they had discussed with patients the importance of traumatic events in the genesis of their illness and frequently noted that they talked about the possibility of repressed memories with them. In turn, patients may be induced to recall traumatic experiences from their lives, thereby producing false memories which may tear families apart and could even lead to wrongful convictions.
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Yasmine Dunn, S.J. (Ash) Summers and Dave Dagnan
A range of adaptations and therapy processes have been explored in relation to therapy with people with intellectual disabilities; however, there remain a few areas of therapy…
Abstract
Purpose
A range of adaptations and therapy processes have been explored in relation to therapy with people with intellectual disabilities; however, there remain a few areas of therapy practice that have not yet been considered in depth. This study aims to report the results of an online survey of the practice of therapists working with people with intellectual disabilities in managing endings in therapy.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty-one therapists working with people with intellectual disabilities responded to an online survey. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings
Three superordinate themes were identified: Theme 1 was “preparing for a therapeutic ending” with subordinate themes of “planning early”, “providing boundaries” and “validating feelings”; Theme 2 was “providing a therapeutic ending”, with subordinate themes of “a collaborative decision” and “fostering growth”; and the third theme was “post-ending issues” in which participants acknowledged a “spectrum of emotion”, and, in the case of difficult endings, a sense of “unfinished business”.
Originality/value
This is the first systematic exploration of therapy endings as described by therapists working with people with intellectual disabilities. The authors discuss implications for practice and further areas of research.
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Dibya Nandan Mishra and Rajeev Kumar Panda
This research examines the role of a therapist’s attributes, namely, expertise, sociability, likability and mind-set similarity, in building trust, satisfaction and commitment…
Abstract
Purpose
This research examines the role of a therapist’s attributes, namely, expertise, sociability, likability and mind-set similarity, in building trust, satisfaction and commitment amongst visitors in Indian wellness resorts and hotels.
Design/methodology/approach
The text mining approach was adopted to collect a large corpus of 3,94,373 online reviews from TripAdvisor, Google Reviews and hotels.com. Reviews were taken from 1,677 resorts and hotels that deal in spa and wellness care across India. This study uses unsupervised Naïve Bayes classification and n-gram lexical TF-IDF vectorizer method to classify and find the sentiment of the reviews shared by the visitors of the wellness resorts. Additionally, multiple linear regression is performed to understand the impact of the therapist’s identified attributes on the visitor’s relationship quality.
Findings
The research found positive sentiment towards the therapist’s likability, and visitors seemed satisfied with the overall wellness service. The sentiment towards trust and commitment is low. The study also found significant links between likability and expertise in building the relationship quality between the therapist and the visitors. The expertise of the therapist enhances visitors’ trust and willingness to return. The therapist’s likability nature helps in increasing visitor satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
This study helps to understand the service personnel's level of relationship with the customer in hospitality services. Further, the study empirically verifies the important factors that build relationship quality in Indian wellness services.
Practical implications
The present study argues the need for greater clarity in understanding the customer perception of the services provided by wellness therapists in Indian wellness resorts and hotels. The study guides hotel managers to perform training of wellness therapists to improve customer satisfaction. Using the findings of the current study, managers can prioritize therapists’ attributes and realign their core strategies and provide satisfying wellness services to customers.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates the essential qualities a therapist should develop to enhance the relationship with the resort visitors and foster trust, commitment and satisfaction. The study goes a step further by using a vast database of online data for deep insights into the visitor’s view and the use of machine learning for amplifying results.
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This chapter investigates the ongoing process of academization within the field of educational therapy in Germany, particularly in the context of the introduction of university…
Abstract
This chapter investigates the ongoing process of academization within the field of educational therapy in Germany, particularly in the context of the introduction of university degrees in integrative educational therapy and the psychology of learning. The introduction of these degrees brought about transformative changes in the professional landscape. Educational therapists holding such degrees often demonstrate a more advanced understanding of their roles, which is underpinned by thorough university education and the legitimizing influence of their academic titles. Prior to the establishment of these degree programs, the field of educational therapy was notably unregulated, devoid of a protected professional title or a specific qualification. This lack of regulation resulted in a proliferation of varied providers, giving rise to what’s known as the “after-school market” phenomenon. This chapter explores the genesis and institutionalization of degree programs in educational therapy as a path toward professionalizing the field. It reveals the crucial role that professional associations along with scientific experts have played in launching these degree programs. Additionally, it discusses the impact of competition among different approaches to educational therapy within this rapidly evolving landscape.
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This study aims to examine the existing literature on sleep-related interventions and confirm the intervention methods and their effectiveness led by occupational therapists.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the existing literature on sleep-related interventions and confirm the intervention methods and their effectiveness led by occupational therapists.
Design/methodology/approach
All the relevant literature published from 2010 to June 31, 2022, in five prominent databases were searched using the five-stage review framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley.
Findings
In this review, four types of sleep-related interventions were led by occupational therapists (tool use, exercise program, sleep education and occupational-based program). When the intervention was analyzed based on its content, occupational therapists demonstrated excellent ability in interventions based on sensory intervention and lifestyle redesign.
Originality/value
Various factors cause sleep problems; hence, the development of individualized and extensive occupational therapy intervention methods is required.
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Sharon Davenport and Ann Underhill
This study aims to explore which outcome measures are used by occupational therapy staff in adult social care settings in the UK, and the factors affecting use of outcome measures.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore which outcome measures are used by occupational therapy staff in adult social care settings in the UK, and the factors affecting use of outcome measures.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative descriptive research design was used, using a cross-sectional study to explore occupational therapy staff views on the use of outcome measures. A 38-question survey was developed on Microsoft Forms. Recruitment occurred online over a three-week period in 2021 via the social media platform “Twitter”. Results were analysed using Excel using descriptive statistics and qualitative results used thematic analysis.
Findings
Participants (n = 20) used a range of outcome measures (13) in adult social care settings in the previous 12 months. Standardised measures were used by half the sample in the previous 12 months. The Therapy Outcome Measure and Barthel Index were in most use. The breadth of adult social care practice and practical factors such as caseload and lack of a meaningful tool were found to be barriers to outcome measure use. Facilitators included service improvement, accountability, use of audit and professional occupational therapy leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The overall use of outcome measures can be considered low in this setting, with manager support seen to be key to the use of outcome measures. Further research is needed to investigate nationwide use.
Practical implications
Training, time and manager support are key to use of standardised tests and outcome measures in the adult social care settings. The use of occupational performance measures should be considered to demonstrate unique professional impact.
Originality/value
This contemporary study reveals use of outcome measures within occupational therapy adult social care services in the UK, which is an under researched and under published area.
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Psychotherapy and clinical supervision outcomes are influenced by client and supervisee factors, one of which is cultural identity. Those with diverse racial and ethnic…
Abstract
Purpose
Psychotherapy and clinical supervision outcomes are influenced by client and supervisee factors, one of which is cultural identity. Those with diverse racial and ethnic minoritised identities often experience disparities in therapy outcomes. Therapists and supervisors need to be responsive to the identity of those they support. The multicultural orientation (MCO) framework is an emerging concept in psychotherapy and clinical supervision that may offer these practitioners a framework to be responsive.
Design/methodology/approach
A preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews was conducted. Six databases, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Academic Search Complete, Web of Science and PsychInfo, were searched for peer-reviewed literature published in English between the years 2000 and 2023.
Findings
A total of 1,553 sources were identified, of which (n = 42) are included in this review. Findings suggest that MCO is still in its infancy as applied to therapy and clinical supervision. Most of the research has been conducted in America, using quantitative methodologies with white western populations. Cultural humility is the most studied MCO pillar, and variables such as reductions in psychological stress, the working alliance and microaggressions are reported on as outcomes. MCO applied to the group therapy process is an emerging finding of interest. However, more research is needed, especially experiential designs across different and diverse populations and contexts.
Originality/value
MCO is an emerging therapy and clinical supervision process that has the potential to improve the outcomes for therapy clients and supervisees. Further research is needed to replicate current studies, and further research with diverse populations, countries and contexts should be undertaken as a priority.
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At present, there is no reference to Attention Autism (AA) as a framework and therapeutic tool with autistic children in occupational therapy (OT) literature. By way of…
Abstract
Purpose
At present, there is no reference to Attention Autism (AA) as a framework and therapeutic tool with autistic children in occupational therapy (OT) literature. By way of introducing AA as a potential intervention to the OT community, this study aims to investigate the extent to which participation in a two-day AA training could contribute to increasing confidence and inspire changes in practice for Irish occupational therapists (OTs) supporting autistic children.
Design/methodology/approach
A pilot study design with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods was used to evaluate the impact of a two-day AA training on six OTs. The OTs support autistic children throughout Ireland across public, private and voluntary sectors. They completed brief, non-standardised questionnaires 2 weeks before the training (Time 1) and again 12 weeks post (Time 2) training session. At Time 2, additional exploratory questions were answered by OTs regarding their use of AA in practice.
Findings
This explorative study’s quantitative findings presented percentage change increases within three areas of confidence for all OTs. These include establishing attention, motivating and developing functional skill goals with autistic children. One of the participants did not score any change in confidence in a fourth area, building rapport, however, the five other participants scored percentage change increases. Qualitative data provided by participants showed that they were implementing AA in practice since attending the training. Five of the participants reported positive experiences of using AA and one participant reported the programme was not suitable for her caseload because of their level of understanding and need.
Research limitations/implications
This was a small, exploratory, practice-based study. As this is the first study exploring this area of practice for OTs, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there were no standardised methods of assessment available, therefore a self-designed survey was used by the author which had a limited number of open-ended questions and four Likert scale questions. This study was also limited in that there was one main researcher who also delivered the two-day AA training. The sample data set was small which resulted in the limitation of the choice of methods used to analyse the quantitative data. Percentage changes were used as the only available and reliable method for a small data set.
Originality/value
Findings of this study, despite their preliminary nature, indicate that AA training may be a useful professional development consideration for OTs who provide a service for autistic children. Further AA research in OT is required including larger and more rigorous studies. An alternative training option of The Curiosity Programme may be considered for OTs supporting children who may not yet be ready to participate in AA.
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