Therapy at the UCT Child Guidance Clinic : an investigation into the practice, utility and applicability of individual psychotherapy in the local context

Waumsley, Samuel

Therapy at the UCT Child Guidance Clinic : an investigation into the practice, utility and applicability of individual psychotherapy in the local context

Master Thesis

2010

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

Individual psychotherapeutic interventions conducted at the UCT Child Guidance Clinic between 2000 and 2009 were investigated with a view to offering informed conclusions on the current nature of clinical practice at the Clinic. Assuming an ecodevelopmental perspective with regards to mental health that explicitly acknowledges the potential impact of social context on individuals' lives the present research's focus centres on the role of socio-economic class and sex differences specifically on work at the Clinic. The broader influence of shifting political, historical and pedagogical contexts on such work is also explored. The 156 individual case files that make up the sample were reviewed and a broad range of clinical information was collated including data on clients' demographics, their presenting difficulties, the case formulations and intervention strategies employed as well as on clients' apparent clinical outcomes. In line with the descriptive and exploratory nature of the research design statistical analysis began with broad pivot table analyses and was followed by more focused Chi-squared analyses with key variables. Results indicated that the Clinic has shifted to working predominantly with socio-economically poorer classes over the past decade and that clients' social class had little or more likely no effect on clinical outcomes. Indeed the majority of clients in the sample were accorded positive outcomes upon termination despite a significant proportion of female clients specifically reporting histories of childhood sexual abuse and other trauma. Trainee clinicians at the Clinic appear to manage well, achieving generally positive clinical results over relatively short time frames despite their clinical inexperience and clients' often severe presenting difficulties. This attests both to the quality of the work being done at the UCT Child Guidance Clinic as well as to the power of individual work more generally to unlock individual potential in the local context.

Description

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-73).

Keywords

Psychology

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