Abstract
This is a portfolio of Academic, Therapeutic Practice and Research work submitted as part of the requirements for the Practitioner Doctorate in Psychotherapeutic and Counselling Psychology at the University of Surrey. Three sections are presented: 1. The Academic Dossier contains three essays selected from a range of theoretical academic subjects submitted for the course. The psychodynamic model has mostly defined my thinking and identity as a Counselling psychologist and, this is evident in my attempt to understand suicide based on Klein’s (1935) views on the human psyche and inform clinical practice. Bowlby’s (1988) ideas on attachment styles is another influence, which inspired my examination of the impact of child sexual abuse from an Attachment Theory perspective and ways of working therapeutically within this approach. The Cognitive Behavioural model is one more influential paradigm which, with its more recent developments on imagery work, in particular, seems closer to my therapeutic style. This has motivated my work on the use of Imagery in CBT as a tool for accessing emotions, where I look at the benefits and challenges of working therapeutically with it. 2. The Therapeutic Practice Dossier attempts to capture the clinical experience I have gained while working within three different therapeutic models and in a range of NHS placements. Furthermore, my Final Clinical Paper is an effort to reflect on my personal journey to becoming a Counselling Psychologist, share some of my developments and the struggles I underwent on the way and try and consolidate the different perspectives and experiences I had, which have informed my therapeutic style today. Further influences by Winnicotf s (1965) concepts of the holding environment and the true/false self as well as by more recent contributors like Casement (1990) and Maroda (2010) are evident in this account. 3. The Research Dossier contains the three research projects which I carried out during the course. These projects are inspired by the above theories, as well as by my whole experience of training to be a therapist, my work with clients in different contexts and a personal desire to develop and change. My research interests therefore focus on the phenomenon of change as both an outcome and a process. In this respect, my Literature Review examines the usefulness of a personality construct by exploring how different theoretical approaches view personality and personality change. My first Research Report explores three individuals’ experience of psychoanalysis/psychoanalytic therapy with a focus on change and potential personality change, while the second Research Report uses a grounded theory approach to explore the impact of Counselling Psychology doctorate training on seven graduates’ personal development and identify the process and outcome of change involved.