LanguageTerm (authority = ISO 639-3:2007); (type = text)
English
Abstract
As the demand for bilingual psychotherapists rises, understanding the effects of language and bilingualism on psychotherapy becomes increasingly important. The literature, mostly focused on the client’s experience, suggests that the language used in the therapy room has an impact on the therapeutic process and relationship. This qualitative study explores the internal and interpersonal experiences of bilingual psychotherapists, adding to and deepening the pool of data about the impact of language in psychotherapy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Hispanic, Spanish-English bilingual, and psychodynamically-oriented psychotherapists. An ethnographically informed, modified grounded theory (Corbin and Strauss, 1990; McCracken, 1988) was used to analyze the data. Findings support previous research and personal accounts from psychotherapists in the literature. Most participants endorsed experiencing language-related identity differences, and a few also reported experiencing a reduction in the internal and interpersonal differences in each language over time. On average, participants indicated they felt more connected to their clients and to their emotions when they spoke in Spanish, and more professional, competent, and emotionally contained when they spoke in English. Additionally, participants reported that being trained and supervised in the language of practice improved their competency as clinicians and strengthened their ability to connect with their clients in therapy. These findings highlight the importance of increasing psychotherapists’ awareness of the impact of language on the therapeutic experience. The study also underscores the need to train and supervise psychotherapy students in the language of practice.
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
Language
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Clinical Psychology
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_10110
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (vii, 96 pages)
Note (type = degree)
Psy.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10001800001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Rutgers University. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.