Putica, Andrea (2014) Client Perspectives On Therapy: Alliance, Cultural Competence and Therapist Self-Reference. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Several authors have labelled therapeutic alliance a “strong” or robust predictor of outcome (Barber, Connolly, Crits-Christoph, Gladis & Siqueland, 2000; Carroll, Nich & Rounsaville, 1997; Castonguay, Constantino & Holtforth, 2006; deRoten et al., 2004; Klein et al., 2003). The first study investigated client identified therapist behaviours which promote a positive therapeutic relationship and cross-cultural competence. Secondly the study explored the impact of selfdisclosure and self-involving statements on the therapeutic relationship using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The participants in study one were twelve females undertook a semistructured interview. Results indicated that therapist professionalism, presence and productivity helped foster a therapeutic alliance. The participants reported that awareness of cultural norms, relevance of culture to the presenting problem and normalisation of cultural issues helped demonstrate therapist cross-cultural competence. All of the participants reported positive benefits of therapist self-disclosure in promoting a shared experience and de-pathologising their presenting problem. However not all of the participants desired self-involving statements from their therapist. This appeared to be impacted by the client's locus of control regarding their presenting problem. The second component of the study consisted of online self-report questionnaires completed by 47 males and 149 females, the results of which yielded mixed results for the aforementioned findings. Structural Equation Modelling did not find support for the outlined models of therapeutic alliance. However a bilevel model of cultural competence consisting of awareness and normalising was supported. Regression and independent samples t-tests revealed that all participants, regardless of cultural background found self-referential statements beneficial.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| 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, Counselling and Community (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2014) |
| Supervisors: | Gavin Beccaria |
| Qualification: | Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Nov 2025 03:37 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Nov 2025 03:37 |
| 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/52678 |
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