Developments in Qualitative Psychotherapy Research

This book examines developments in qualitative psychotherapeutic research. It focuses on different methods and aspects of clinical practice. These range from the experiences of service users and clinicians, examining in detail different aspects of how therapy gets done in practice, to critiquing the politics and ideologies of psychotherapy practice. It aims to reflect the diversity that characterises this developing field and to represent practice-based research carried out in different clinical settings, from different perspectives and in different sociocultural contexts. The wide range of research projects presented arise from a network of clinicians and psychotherapy researchers who have established an international transdisciplinary forum for dedicated qualitative research on a range of topics in the field of mental health, using a variety of methodologies and theoretical approaches. In the spirit of dialogue, this book further provides chapters written by key practitioners in the field of qualitative research in mental health discussing these contributions. This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling.

Del Loewenthal is Professor of Psychotherapy and Counselling and Director of the Research Centre for Therapeutic Education at the University of Roehampton, London, UK. He is an existential-analytic psychotherapist, photographer and chartered psychologist, with a particular interest in phenomenology. His books include Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling after Postmodernism (Routledge, 2017). Evrinomy Avdi is Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She is a clinical psychologist, dramatherapist and psychodynamic psychotherapist. Her research interests lie in discursive approaches to psychotherapy research and the exploration of the links between deconstructive research and clinical practice.