Abstract
This portfolio constitutes the culmination of the Practitioner Doctorate in Psychotherapeutic and Counselling Psychology at the University of Surrey and consists of three dossiers containing a selection of work pertaining to the training. The three dossiers relate to academic, therapeutic practice and research engagement respectively, each reflective of particular areas of interest as well as skills and competencies gained, offering, I hope, an overall sense of my professional and personal development throughout the course. The academic dossier contains three essays. The first essay examines the way in which psychoanalysis may inform therapeutic practice with clients who display narcissistic tendencies, with particular attention paid towards enlisting techniques aimed to facilitate exposure and integration of the ‘real’ self. The second essay explores the presence of client resistance and / or ambivalence within therapy, from the perspective of cognitive behavioural therapy, and focuses on bridging gaps identified within the model that limit effective response to this therapeutic barrier. The third essay examines the way in which attachment theory offers a useful rich framework from which to better understand and therapeutically work with individuals suffering from symptoms of depression. The therapeutic dossier contains a description of clinical placements undertaken throughout the course. A reflective account of my development as a counselling psychologist is also included, summarised within the final clinical paper. The research dossier comprises three pieces of research, namely a literature review and two empirical studies, and also contains copies of a published journal article and conference paper. The research focuses on women and men in leadership roles, examining the way in which the social construction of gender and leadership, governing expectations pertaining to the attributes and behaviours of men, women and leaders, may influence firstly, the behaviour of current and aspiring leaders, secondly, the recruitment of leaders, and thirdly, the framework from which policy aimed at promoting diverse leadership is addressed. The literature review examines and identifies gaps within extant research pertaining to these points. Employing a constructivist version of grounded theory, the first empirical study explores the concept of leadership from the perspective of female leaders. The second empirical study utilises interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the concept of leadership from the perspective of male leaders. Both empirical studies seek to gain a sense of the lived experience of leaders and, in so doing, identify the usefulness and/or problematic nature of the prevailing view of leadership.