Meaning in life in psychotherapy: The perspective of experienced psychotherapists

Authors

Clara E. Hill, University of Maryland - College Park
Yoshi Kanazawa, Meigi Gakuin University - Tokyo, Japan
Sarah Knox, Marquette UniversityFollow
Iris Schauerman, University of Maryland - College Park
Darren Loureiro, University of Maryland - College Park
Danielle James, University of Maryland - College Park
Imani Carter, University of Maryland - College Park
Shakeena King, University of Maryland - College Park
Suad Razzak, University of Maryland - College Park
Melanie Scarff, University of Maryland - College Park
Jasmine Moore, University of Maryland - College Park

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

11-2015

Publisher

Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

Source Publication

Psychotherapy Research

Source ISSN

1050-3307

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2015.1110636

Abstract

Objective

Our goal was to explore the meaning experienced psychotherapists derive from providing psychotherapy, their beliefs about the role of meaning in life (MIL) in psychotherapy, how they worked with MIL with a client who explicitly presented concerns about MIL, and how they worked with a different client for whom MIL was a secondary and more implicit concern.

Method

Thirteen experienced psychotherapists were interviewed and data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research.

Results

Therapists derived self-oriented meaning (e.g., feeling gratified, fulfilled, connected) and other-oriented meaning (helping others, making the world a better place) from providing psychotherapy. They believed that MIL is fundamental and underlies all human concerns, including those brought to therapy. In contrast to the clients who had implicit MIL concerns, clients who explicitly presented MIL concerns were reported to have more interpersonal problems and physical problems, but about the same amount of psychological distress and loss/grief. Therapists used insight-oriented interventions, support, action-oriented interventions, and exploratory interventions to work with MIL with both types of clients, but used more exploratory interventions with implicit than explicit MIL clients.

Conclusions

MIL is a salient topic for experienced, existentially oriented psychotherapists; they work with MIL extensively with some clients in psychotherapy. We recommend that therapists receive training to work with MIL in therapy, and that they pay attention to MIL concerns when they conduct psychotherapy. We also recommend additional research on MIL in psychotherapy.

Comments

Accepted version. Psychotherapy Research, Vol. 27, No. 4 (July 2017): 381–396. DOI. © 2017 Routledge Taylor & Francis. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Hill, Clara E.; Kanazawa, Yoshi; Knox, Sarah; Schauerman, Iris; Loureiro, Darren; James, Danielle; Carter, Imani; King, Shakeena; Razzak, Suad; Scarff, Melanie; and Moore, Jasmine, "Meaning in life in psychotherapy: The perspective of experienced psychotherapists" (2015). College of Education Faculty Research and Publications. 385.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/edu_fac/385