To Örebro University

Deliberate practice (DP) is well established and widely accepted in expert performance research within a variety of fields. Recently, researchers have started to examine if the same training principles can be applied to psychotherapists. The aim of this study was to examine the impact on intrapersonal skills and the experiences of a six-week DP intervention on seven therapist trainees (n = 7). To do this, a single-case research design was used, combining weekly repeated measurements and pre- and post-intervention measurements as well as a qualitative study analyzed by inductive thematic analysis. The results from our measurements indicate mixed results, where three out of seven participants achieved a significant positive intervention effect and we can see that most participants change in the hypothesized direction on mindful attention (MAAS), experiential avoidance (MEAQ), emotional processing (EPI), and self-compassion (SCS). The participants described gains on increased self-awareness, more compassionate treatment of oneself, increased tolerance of unpleasant feelings as well as a sense of being able to use their own experiences to understand their relationship to other people. The intervention also gave the participants an ability to hold contrasting thoughts and emotions and provided an increased sense of hope for their own future development. The findings of our study should be interpreted in light of its pilot nature and the limited extent of our design. However, it indicates that it seems possible to achieve positive results on intrapersonal skills from a relatively short period of training.

Semantic judgements involve the use of general knowledge about the world in specific situations. Such judgements are typically associated with activity in a number of brain regions that include the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). However, previous studies showed activity in brain regions associated with mentalizing, including the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), in semantic judgements that involved social knowledge. The aim of the present study was to investigate if social and non-social semantic judgements are dissociated using a combination of fMRI and repetitive TMS. To study this, we asked participants to estimate the percentage of exemplars in a given category that shared a specified attribute. Categories could be either social (i.e., stereotypes) or non-social (i.e., object categories). As expected, fMRI results (n = 26) showed enhanced activity in the left IFG that was specific to non-social semantic judgements. However, statistical evidence did not support that repetitive TMS stimulation (n = 19) to this brain region specifically disrupted non-social semantic judgements. Also as expected, the right TPJ showed enhanced activity to social semantic judgements. However, statistical evidence did not support that repetitive TMS stimulation to this brain region specifically disrupted social semantic judgements. It is possible that the causal networks involved in social and non-social semantic judgements may be more complex than expected.

Research has consistently found that therapists differ in psychotherapy outcomes. Interpersonal skills, as measured with the Facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) task, have been found to be one of few therapist characteristics that reliably predicts outcome. To extend current knowledge of the development of interpersonal skills, this study investigates the association between FIS and progression on a 5-year psychologist program, while also accounting for potentially confounding or moderating variables. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, sixty-five students from psychology programs in Sweden were assessed with the FIS performance task and completed self-reports on several variables, including demographics, indicators of clinical experience and psychological variables (deliberate practice, natural helping, motivation for clinical work and test anxiety). Using hierarchical linear regression and moderated regression analysis the results showed that student's semester on the program was a significant predictor of FIS above and beyond the effect of other variables. Also, higher motivation for clinical work and higher test anxiety emerged as significant positive predictors of FIS scores. Deliberate practice did not moderate the relationship. The findings provide preliminary support for an association between FIS and further progression on the psychology program in Sweden. Implications for practice, theory and future investigations are discussed.

A large body of research identifies therapist expressed empathy as one of the most important predictors of psychotherapy outcome. Deliberate practice (DP) is an effective method to improve skills in many fields. We asked if DP also can be used to enhance the skill of expressing empathy.

Objective: The aim was to compare the efficacy of DP to didactical learning methods (DLM) in enhancing the skill of empathic expression in students.

Method: A repeated measures randomized controlled group design was used. Novice students (N = 36) from psychologist-, medicine-, social work-, and nursing programs received two training sessions of either DP (n = 21) or DLM (n = 15). Participants' skills in empathic expression were assessed with the Measure of Expressed Empathy (MEE) on three occasions: before the first, between, and after the last training session.

Results: Participants in the DP-group showed improved empathic expression, whereas participants in the DLM-group did not.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that DP is an effective training method for therapeutic skills such as empathic expression and holds implications for the future development of educational practices to incorporate active skill training methods.

Conceptualisations of well-being show cultural variations. In Ghana, traditional culture emphasises collectivistic values. However, the growth of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity has dispersed individualistic values, which may be even more pronounced in emerging adults. The aim of the current study was to explore how Ghanaian Pentecostal Charismatic Christian university students conceptualise well-being. Twelve participants belonging to different religious groups within Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity were interviewed. The interviews were then analysed with inductive thematic analysis. The results showed that the participants' aspirations were situated in a social context with mutual dependence. They experienced well-being by contributing to family, friends, and society at large. However, at times there would be conflicts between their individual strivings and the wishes of others. Collectivistic and individualistic values seemed to have coexisted and interplayed, possibly with a stronger emphasis on traditional collectivistic values than those individualistic values transmitted through Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity.

This study explores the subjective experiences of dyspareunia among queer women in Sweden. Ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with five participants who were all interviewed on two separate occasions. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Dyspareunia was described as affecting the participants' sexual activities, intimate relationships, and identity constructs. Reported struggles involved feelings of sadness, guilt, frustration, and fear of pain. Dyspareunia was described as threatening the participants' queer identities through its effect on their ability to be sexual in idealised ways. However, queer experiences and communities were also found to be associated with advantages in pain management, such as well-developed sexual communication skills, anatomic similarity to their partner, access to non-heteronormative sexual scripts and a focus on nurturing desire. Queer related advantages in pain management are proposed to buffer to some extent against pain interference with sexual function and desire. Findings indicate that it is important to consider the unique relational and social context of queer women to understand their experiences of dyspareunia. More research is needed on the role of differences of normativities, context and communication in dyspareunia.

Personal growth is integral to mental health. Hegemonic psychological theories about personal growth were formulated in an individualistic culture where people experience an independent self. Conceptualisations of personal growth may be different in collectivistic cultures where people experience an interdependent self. Ghanaian Orthodox Christians are embedded in a collectivistic culture where religion permeates every-day life. The aim of this study was to investigate how Ghanaian Orthodox Christians conceptualise personal growth. We interviewed 12 participants from the University of Ghana who belonged to different Orthodox Christian Churches. The results showed that the participants wanted material success, and they acknowledged that this takes effort. Relationships were facilitating their ambitions, and for that reason learning to adapt to social norms was important. Most important of all was their relationship to God. The results implied a conceptualisation of personal growth that relies on an interdependent experience of the self.

This contribution to the collection of articles on "African Cultural Models" considers the topic of well-being. Reflecting modern individualist selfways of North American and European worlds, normative conceptions of well-being in hegemonic psychological science tend to valorize self-acceptance, personal growth, and autonomy. In contrast, given the embedded interdependence of everyday life in many West African worlds, one can hypothesize that cultural models of well-being in many Ghanaian settings will place greater emphasis on sustainability-oriented themes of material sufficiency and successful navigation of normative obligations. To explore this hypothesis, we interviewed local cultural experts who function as custodians of religion and an important source of support for well-being in many Ghanaian settings. We asked participants to identify and explain models of well-being implicit in four Ghanaian languages (Akan, Dagbani, Ewe, and Ga). Participants were 19 men and 15 women (age range 32-92 years; Mean = 59.83; SD: 14.01). Results reveal some features of local models, includinggood healthandpositive affective states, that appear to resonate with standard understandings of well-being in hegemonic psychological science. However, results also provide evidence for other features of local models - specifically, good living (includingmoral living,material success, andproper relationality) andpeace of mind- associated with a sustainability or maintenance orientation to well-being.

BACKGROUND: There is limited research into the effect of supervision in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) from the supervisees' perspective.

AIMS: The aim of the study was to acquire knowledge from the supervisees' perspective as to what in particular in the supervision process contributes to the therapy process.

METHOD: Fourteen supervisees on a foundation course participated in the study. A qualitative approach was used with thematic analysis of the participants' written diaries after supervision and therapy sessions.

RESULTS: Analyses of supervisees' experiences suggested that a variety of therapeutic interventions were easier to implement if one had the supervisor's support and felt free to decide if and when the suggested interventions could best be implemented. Evaluation in the form of positive feedback from the supervisor indicating that the supervisee was 'doing the right thing' was perceived to be important. A unifying theme when supervisees felt they were not getting anything out of the supervision was that the supervisees did not have a supervision question.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this research suggest that the supervisor's support during training is perceived to be important for the supervisee. Receiving positive feedback from one's supervisor in an evaluation is perceived to have a great impact on whether the therapist implements the suggested therapeutic interventions discussed in the previous supervision.

Previous research showed that supervision during psychotherapy training sometimes includes negative alliance and harmful events. The aim of this study was to investigate how such events were related to failing psychotherapy training. Interviews were made with informants from two separate samples: psychotherapy students who had failed training (n = 6) and supervisors with experience from failing students (n = 6). The interviews were analyzed separately for the two samples with inductive thematic analysis and then compared. The core category for students ('Paradoxical response') indicated that they experienced their supervisors as either demanding too much or nothing at all. The core category for supervisors ('Balancing contradictory demands') indicated that they wanted to fail students who did not live up to expectations but were pressured by training institutes to let them pass. Both students and supervisors experienced distress but it seemed that they were not fully aware of each other's vulnerability. The results suggest that a weak supervisory alliance and harmful events may contribute to student failures, independently of students' actual suitability for psychotherapy.