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C. PROJECT DETAILS
DESCRIBE IN LANGUAGE WHICH IS, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, FREE FROM JARGON AND COMPREHENSIBLE
TO LAY PEOPLE.
C.1 Aim of project: State concisely the aims and type of information sought. Give the specific
hypothesis, if any, to be tested.
I propose a qualitative exploration of some retrospective data, acquired prior to my provisional
registration for my PhD. I taught a semester-long class of qualified psychotherapists and other
qualified mental health professionals between July and November 2000, together with a
colleague in a partner agency of AUT, as a member of staff of the agency. The aim of the class
was to promote the integration of theory and practice by members of the class in their work as
psychotherapists. With the ethical approval of the agency's Ethical Committee, and the
informed consent of the participants, the delivery of this course was tape-recorded. I wish to
explore transcripts of the tape-recordings in order to begin to develop hunches about the role of
the learning group in the development of individual psychotherapists. I then plan to futher
explore these hunches in subsequent interviews with participants in this project. Parallel and
subsequent projects are planned, for which further ethical approval will be sought separately.
C.2 Why are you proposing this research? (ie what are its potential benefits?)
This project is the initial part of my PhD.My aim is that the work will ultimately yield
theoretical contributions to the understanding of group work and dynamics in professional
development.
C.3 Background: Provide sufficient information to place the project in perspective and to
allow the project's significance to be assessed. If possible provide one or two references
to the applicant's (or supervisor's) own published work in the relevant field.
This project takes place in the context that I have described in previous work (Farrell, 1996). I
have argued that the relationships that form the environment in which learning takes place are
of major importance. Associate Professor Stephen Appel has also published in this field
(Appel, 1999). A learning group is a group that is set up in order to facilitate learning by
members of the group, and possibly by the group as a whole, depending on the design of the
group. There is a continuum from a standard academic class on the one hand, to a specialised
group on the other, for whom a major task is to study its own working. Examples of the latter
would be a group at a Group Relations training event, or perhaps a co-operative inquiry group
in research. Almost all psychotherapy trainings make use of a learning group, either implicitly
or explicitly. These groups fall in the mid-range of the continuum, in that they have defined
pedagogical aims and pre-determined learning outcomes, but at the same time they offer a form
of group experience which is unpredictable. This form of group should not be confused with
groups such as the experiential group or reflective group, where learners get to experience a
client role and possibly some therapeutic benefit.
I want to undertake this study because there has been very limited systematic research focussed
on the process of training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in general, and on the group-related
aspects of the learning process in particular. Also, a number of my enduring interests intersect
in the area of this study (i.e. psychotherapy training, the development of reflective capacity, and
group psychotherapy).
Psychotherapy training is an important field, because it enables psychotherapists and others to
work with a range of intrapsychic and interpersonal difficulties, but also because it overlaps
considerably with related fields (such as other professional trainings, including management
education).
Proposals to regulate the practice of psychotherapy (and hence the training for practice) require
the profession to be as informed as possible, including by research such as this, so as to
contribute to the setting of regulations.
Ref No # 5 of 16