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The therapist's experience of love for patients
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McCann, Laura. The therapist's experience of love for patients. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-amzt-f767

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TitleThe therapist's experience of love for patients
NameMcCann, Laura (author); Skean, Karen Riggs (chair); Hersey, Brook (internal member); Rutgers University; Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Date Created2020
Other Date2020-05 (degree)
SubjectPsychotherapy, Clinical Psychology
Extent1 online resource (iv, 124 pages)
DescriptionFrom the beginning of psychoanalysis, love has been recognized as a crucial and healing part of the therapeutic relationship. The literature, which has focused more on the experience of the patient than that of the therapist, suggests that while therapists do feel love for patients, they are uncomfortable with these feelings and reluctant to discuss them in a public forum. This qualitative study explores the experience of love from the therapist’s point of view, bringing the topic more into the open. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists. A modified grounded theory method (Corbin and Strauss, 2014; McCracken, 1988) was used to analyze the data. The following themes were identified: Love for patients can be parental and/or erotic; is characterized by warmth, care, and stretching the frame; is deepened by having survived struggle and even hatred together as well as by the passage of time; is characterized by careful listening and the dedication that goes with it; and is at times akin to spiritual love. Findings support, challenge, and expand on different aspects of previous discussions in the literature. Consistent with the literature, most participants reported experiencing a range of loving feelings for patients. In contrast to the literature, participants reported feeling comfortable both experiencing and discussing these feelings. Expanding on the literature, participants reported that the greatest influence on their attitudes towards love for patients was their own therapy. This study supports the importance of love in promoting healing in psychotherapy and suggests a need for greater awareness of loving feelings in training and supervision.
NotePsy.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-amzt-f767
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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