Suchergebnisse

While a great deal is known about the problems that clients bring to therapy, little is known about the way in which clients conceptualize problems during the course of couple therapy. Understanding clients' conceptualizations of problems is important because it provides the therapist with a client-centered context on how to approach discussions about the problems during the course of treatment. This manuscript provides the results of an exploratory qualitative inquiry concerning how clients conceptualize problems during therapy and across the trajectory of treatment. The sample consisted of 26 individuals comprising 13 couples attending couple therapy. Participants completed a semi-structured interview prior to the first and after the second, third, and fourth therapy session. Analysis included grounded theory and discourse analysis. Results suggested that couples approach problems from an individualistic standpoint, they internalize problems, and they expect to recover from problems. The authors discuss how therapists may challenge dominant discourses around problems during couple therapy.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women (American Cancer Society [ACS], 2016b). Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) as a group have a worse prognosis when compared to older adults (e.g., Tichy, Lim, & Anders, 2013). Due to limited understanding of the biology of cancers for AYAs, inadequate representation of AYAs in clinical trials, and AYAs' unique psychosocial healthcare needs, the prognosis for this group, as compared to older women, is comparatively poor. One step in addressing the survival gap for AYAs is to explore the developmental and psychosocial factors that shape their illness experiences. This qualitative study explored the illness experiences of women diagnosed with breast cancer between the ages of 18 and 39 years old. Using a phenomenological approach, 23 breast cancer survivors were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Findings indicated the centrality of developmental, sociocultural, and psychosocial systems in shaping women's health care experiences. Future studies should explore the ways in which medical providers attend to these systems across the breast cancer trajectory.