Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Humanities, Psychology and Social Sciences
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Experience of Resistance, Impediment, Embracement, and Expectation: A Thematic Analysis of Personal Narratives of Indian Clients’ in Psychotherapy for Depression
Ryno Settrisman, Ajit K. Mishra
ABSTRACT:
Clients’ therapy experience from the perspectives of the clients has gained traction in research and attention across cultures. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of research concerning this area in the Indian setting. This article attempts a thematic analysis on five personal narratives of Indian clients, collected by Amrita Tripathi and Arpita Anand in Real Stories of Dealing with Depression, in order to examine what are their various and general concerns during psychotherapy for depression in India. After the analysis, six organising themes were identified from the selected narratives. One of them pertains to the clients’ experience in relation to the self, that is clients’ intentions during psychotherapy. Two of the organising themes relate to the clients’ experience in relation to their therapists, such as therapists’ actions and relationship style of therapists. The other three organising themes are the clients’ experience in relation to the psychotherapy treatment itself, such as psychotherapeutic impacts, perceived psychotherapeutic adequacy, and perceived facilitators and barriers in a successful psychotherapy. The analysis unravels the global themes of “Experience of Resistance, Impediment, Embracement, and Expectation”. Implications for future research and practices are then discussed.
keywords: Clients’ Experiences, Depression, Mental Health, Thematic Analysis, Psychotherapy