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Student Peer-Group Focusing in Psychology Training: a Phenomemological Study Amanda Burleigh Lowe

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Student Peer-Group Focusing in Psychology Training: a Phenomemological Study Amanda Burleigh Lowe Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 2012 Student Peer-Group Focusing in Psychology Training: A Phenomemological Study Amanda Burleigh Lowe Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Lowe, A. (2012). Student Peer-Group Focusing in Psychology Training: A Phenomemological Study (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/838 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT PEER-GROUP FOCUSING IN PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College & Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Amanda Burleigh Lowe, M.A. August 2012 Copyright by Amanda Burleigh Lowe 2012 STUDENT PEER-GROUP FOCUSING IN PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY By Amanda Burleigh Lowe Approved May 14, 2012 ____________________________ ____________________________ Will W. Adams, Ph.D. Russell Walsh, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Psychology (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ____________________________ Eva Simms, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology (Committee Member) ____________________________ ____________________________ James C. Swindal, Ph.D. Daniel Burston, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty College & Graduate Chair, Department of Psychology School of Liberal Arts Associate Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Philosophy iii ABSTRACT STUDENT PEER-GROUP FOCUSING IN PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY By Amanda Burleigh Lowe May 2012 Dissertation supervised by Will A. Adams The present study is an empirical phenomenological investigation of the influence of peer group Focusing practice (Gendlin, 1981) on doctoral psychology students‘ senses of their developing clinical expertise. Focusing, a therapeutic bodily awareness and symbolization practice, was proposed as a method that would support the development of student self-reflection, self-assessment, and self-care. The present study investigates the experiences of three female doctoral students who participated in a peer-initiated and peer-run Focusing group for five semesters. The methodological procedures for a reflective empirical phenomenological study as articulated by Giorgi and Giorgi (2003), Robbins (2006), and Wertz (1984) were followed. Procedures adapted from Walsh (1995) to ensure phenomenological researcher reflexivity and to explicate the researcher‘s approach to the phenomenon were also used. All participants provided data iv via audiotaped individual interviews, read provisional interpretations and provided written and verbal feedback to the researcher. The interpretive analyses of these texts indicated that all participants found their participation in the peer Focusing group to enhance some aspects of their clinical expertise. The findings support the idea that peer group Focusing is a helpful method for directly training psychology graduate students in self-reflection, self-assessment, and self-care. Relationships between these findings and research on the use of mindfulness meditation in graduate psychology training are discussed. Implications for curriculum development, including a discussion of the relationship between the findings and the training concepts of personal professional development and professional development are explored. v DEDICATION I‘d like to dedicate this work to Kenson Mark Nishino (1972-2003). You are always with me in my heart. I‘d further like to dedicate this work to all persons who struggle with serious mental illness and those who care for—and with—them. It is my hope that this dissertation may serve to make a contribution, however small, to improving the care available for the people who are the most challenging, the most vulnerable, and the most in need of expert help. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Working on this dissertation has been a great challenge that I have struggled with and deeply enjoyed. I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Will Adams, Ph.D., for supporting my interests and my work during my graduate school career, and for helping me to develop and complete this dissertation. I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee, Eva Simms, Ph.D. and Russell Walsh, Ph.D., for providing important feedback and guidance throughout the process, and for teaching me many important things about phenomenology and human science research during my graduate school career. I would also like to thank faculty members Constance T. Fischer, Ph.D., ABPP, Anthony Barton, Ph.D., Roger Brooke, Ph.D., ABPP, and Jessie Goicoechea, Ph.D., for all that they have taught me about being a clinician and a researcher. I would like to acknowledge the unwavering support of my family and ―non- school‖ friends. I would like to thank my husband, Sean Stanley, for believing in me, for being supportive of how much I have had to work during graduate school and the dissertation, for encouraging me to exercise and not just sit at the computer all day long, and for his tenderness and humor when I have been at my worst. Your presence in my life has been a great gift. I would like to thank my parents, Marjorie and George Lowe, for their financial and moral support during graduate school and the dissertation project. I couldn‘t have done it without you. Extra thanks to Dad, in particular, for taking on the task of editing this dissertation. Your careful reading and re-reading of drafts, organizing all the files, formatting, and helping to prepare all the appendices has been indispensable. I would also like to thank my friend Erin Ruggiero for always being there for me, and for being such a great cook. I‘m so grateful to have a friend like you in my life. vii My friends and colleagues in Duquesne‘s clinical psychology program have also been a great source of inspiration, encouragement, and practical support. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know and learn from so many fine people, and I am proud to be a part of the extended community of Duquesne psychology alumni. In particular, I‘d like to thank Rodney Teague for believing in me and helping me to develop my interests and ideas to their utmost. I‘d also like to thank Diana Cuello, Joshua Gregson, and Dan Warner for being great friends and for being willing to play and explore with me. You have all been an integral part of my graduate school career and my life. Finally, I‘d like to acknowledge my friends and colleagues CJ, Anna, and Robin for creating and sustaining our peer Focusing group for two and a half years. Our working and playing together in the group has been a very important source of learning and joy in my life and my graduate training. I can‘t say how grateful I am that you all were willing to allow our group to be the site of my dissertation research. I feel privileged that you entrusted me with your experiences. It has been a pleasure and a gift to dwell with you all in this work. I‘d especially like to thank CJ for being my Focusing partner and for all the tremendous support, guidance, and love you have given me over our years of friendship and colleagueship. I look forward to many more years of working with you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Dedication ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Acknowledgement ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Chapter: 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Review of Literature Relevant to the Study .................................................... 8 Understanding the Relationships between Personal and Professional Development...... 8 Areas of Professional Competence that Rely on Personal Development ..................... 10 Clinical expertise: self-reflection, self-assessment, and proactive development. ..... 10 Self-care: applying reflection actively in life. ......................................................... 13 Professional Self-Reflection in Graduate Training: Concepts and Models .................. 15 Student psychological functioning, development, and well-being in training. ......... 16 Approaches to defining self-reflection competencies and training activities. .......... 20 Literature Review Summary ...................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3: Focusing....................................................................................................... 33 Existential Phenomenology, Felt Experiencing, and Focusing.................................... 33 Psychotherapy Research, Experiencing Level, and the Development of Focusing ...... 36 Focusing and Training in Self-Reflection and Self-Care: Potential Benefits ............... 37 Focusing Practice: Experiential Engagement with Embodied Meaning ...................... 38 Focusing Procedures .................................................................................................. 41 The Peer Focusing Group in the Present Study .........................................................
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