Paul Houghton

The Training Experiences and Competence in an Iapt Service of Recently Qualified Therapists Paul Houghton

Publisher Marketing: Scientific Study from the year 2007 in the subject Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation, language: English, abstract: Following the introduction of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Initiative, the author was interested in examining how newly qualified High Intensity Therapists' viewed their training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The author was also interested in exploring their perception of competence to carry out CBT in an IAPT Service following their training. This exploratory study focused on identifying the whole trainee experience and attempted to elicit how they interpreted their personal journey of learning. Interpretative Phenomological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse data gathered from semi-structured interviews with nine trainee High-Intensity Therapists at the end of a PgDip IAPT CBT Programme. There were three superordinate themes identified - Negative Affect, Loss of Therapist Self, and Loss of Control. There were also several subordinate themes derived from the data. There were several theory/practice gaps identified by the trainees' which they felt needed to be addressed, but there were also elements of their training they considered to be helpful. The range of emotions the trainees' experienced was discussed highlighting mainly negative evaluations of their interpretation of the training on an interpersonal level, but these were influenced by organisational concerns and the clinical placements in which they worked. These issues repeatedly arose for the trainees highlighting the need to address the training or placement/organisational aspects that did not help the trainee and newly qualified therapist working in the IAPT Services. A critical analysis of the results is offered as are limitations of the study together with implications for practice and recommendations for further research.