Schulze, Melinda K. (2016) A Comparison of Ambivalence in Three Different Psychtherapies. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This exploratory study examined how three different therapists treated ambivalence when it first occurs in a counselling session. It used three research questions to show how ambivalence talk is introduced and initially negotiated in Family and Cultural, Stages of Change, and Motivational Interviewing counselling. Ambivalence occurred early in the Family and Cultural and Stages of Change counselling sessions, whereas it occurred midterm in the Motivational Interviewing session. Each client’s ambivalence formulated the social environment shown in each extract by producing an orientation to the therapist’s preceding talk. As well as formulating what is going on, ambivalence leads to some practical consequences for each counselling interaction. Each therapist negotiated the ambivalence with their client, according to their therapy type. Ambivalence was negotiated ‘out’ of the Family and Cultural and Stages of Change therapy sessions, whereas ambivalence was negotiated ‘into’ the Motivational Interviewing counselling experience. Motivational Interviewing is a directive method which explores and resolves ambivalence. Clients use the sequential nature of talk to construct their interactions with their therapist. Questions can be asked of these interactions by placing discourse at the forefront of the research process to investigate each therapist’s response to their client’s first instance of ambivalence. The findings of this study can be used as a sound basis for further qualitative research exploring how therapists from differing perspectives treat client ambivalence, and for clinical practice in terms of future training of clinicians to better incorporate Motivational Interviewing strategies.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Steve Christensen |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Sep 2025 23:36 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Sep 2025 23:36 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ambivalence ; counselling session ; consequences ; family and cultural counselling ; stages of change counselling ; motivational interviewing counselling |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52740 |
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