How do therapists construe clients, other therapists, and researchers?
Sue Watson
Department of Clinical Psychology, Edgware Community Hospital, Edgware,
Middlesex (UK)
Abstract
The repertory grid has featured extensively in psychotherapy research
into clients’ construing (Watson, 1998, Winter, 1992). However, there is
little published work in which the grid has been used to investigate therapists’
construing. Such studies that have been conducted have tended to focus
on specific aspects of therapists’ construal of their clients, notably
Ryle’s (1969) exploration of his own counter-transference reactions, and
Soldz’s (1992) study of negativity in therapists’ evaluation of clients.
In view of the versatility of the grid, the dearth of research into this
and other domains of therapist construing is surprising. It might be expected
that areas of theoretical interest would include, for example, therapist
construal of therapists of different orientations, and, given the frequently
reported hiatus between clinical practice and research (Beutler, 1995),
thera-pist construal of psychotherapy researchers. In an attempt to supplement
the limited work in this area, this paper uses the repertory grid to examine
therapists’ construal of their clients who fit role titles representing
a range of clients who are encountered in clinical practice. Therapist
construal of both a therapist from a different theoretical orientation,
and a psychotherapy researcher will also be evaluated. Comparisons will
be made between therapist groups of different orientations.
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