128 CHAPTER SEVEN
129 7.1.2. Future directions for training
Another salient feature is assisting the coordinators of a Psychology Masters program to structure such a program to optimally prepare for the therapy context. It is hoped that a study such as this one may assist trainers to deliver professional and sufficient training for the trainee psychologist to become a successful and competent interviewer. Trainees experiencing discomfort and unarticulated conflict in values are encouraged to take special efforts in exposing themselves to accurate information, interpersonal interactions and social contexts relevant to the values of the clients they may be dealing with (Farnsworth & Callahan, 2013). Including collaborative strategies within a training program might serve to ease some pressure for the trainee psychologists of feeling the need to perform and meet the expectations of being a professional and knowing how to manage complex issues. Developing the person and creating a platform to explore and practice having conversations about sexual health is beneficial.
Some questions to ask as a trainee: Whose view is this?, How do I know this?, What am I putting emphasis on?, What ideas am I privileging?, What are my limits?, What is my place of my judgments in this work? (Markovic, 2013).
7.1.3. Future directions for research
To further explore dominant discourses and how prevalent they are within the trainee psychologist. This should be an ongoing process and one under constant review.
7.2. Limitations of the study
During the course of developing the semi-structured interview to be used for the study it had been anticipated that the working alliance would be a prevalent issue. However the working alliance was overshadowed by other aspects of the discussions/experiences by the trainee psychologists and the study evolved in a way not initially anticipated. The postmodern conceptualisation grew out of this and indeed seems to have added depth not considered during the planning phase. There are 12 participants in this study, however due to technical problems with recording equipment I was unable to use participant 12's interview. Participant 11 was written down however during the interview, the recording was damaged.
130 7.2.1. Generalisability
It would be beneficial for this study to be repeated within other training programs throughout South Africa in order to see if these results are transferable to other populations. It would be valuable to explore whether the obstacles that arose in this study are commonly experienced within other therapeutic settings as well as transferable to the general population.
7.2.2. Availability of participants
Due to the scarcity of the participants and time constraints for the Masters students, I approached participants from the previous masters year, who are currently in their internship. There were 3 male participants, only due to limited male students within the psychology program.
7.2.3. Personal reflections
"Reflexivity requires awareness of the researcher's contribution to the construction of meaning throughout the research process, and an acknowledgement of the impossibility of remaining outside of one's subject matter while conducting research" (Terreblance et al. 2006). The topic of sexual health has been of particular interest which has been magnified since having three of my own children. I was raised in a home where sex, drug use, alcohol use and many other complex subjects were often dinner time conversation. Due to this I have read widely about sexuality and gender issues. As my own children have grown I have been faced with questions about sexual health from them which have required honest answers and personal reflections.
My assumption was that at a post graduate level my peers would feel as confident and comfortable to discuss the topic as I was. However I soon became aware that I was one of the few to have developed a vocabulary and knowledge base about human sexuality. It was during the course of my Masters year and role-plays with my peers that stimulated some of the questions about taken-for-granted-truths and sociopolitical discourses surrounding sexual health.
HIV/Aids has illustrated how some of these myths and ideas about gender, age and culture perpetuate these discourses and inhibit open discussions about sexuality. During my Masters year a series of workshops on HIV/Aids had a profound impact on my peers and myself and generated enlightening discussions about sexuality in various contexts.
I am aware that during the research interviews I prompted more than I had intended to as some of the participants initially struggled with the topic of sexual health and due to limited
131 experience in discussing the topic were at times unable to articulate what they needed to.
However I was aware how in each interview, after twenty minutes, each participant had relaxed and eased into the conversation which in itself strengthens the discussion about subjective discomfort. What I found most interesting was that during the course of this write up I often found myself writing Male in capitals and female in small letters which alerted me once again to the subtleties of gender discourses. Of course this requires ongoing reflecting on my part. I felt it was important to choose to use her instead of the commonly used her/him in this write up due to my own feminist leanings and engagement with narrative discourses. I have used him when commenting directly about one of the male participants in this study.
7.2.4. Possible contributions of the study
It is my hope that this study serves to stimulate the thinking and the challenging of taken-for- granted-truths. To live and practice psychology in a manner which honours others and continually ignites passion and curiosity is the aim of this research. I feel the strengths of this study may make some contributions to the field of psychology aiming at expanding views to include a holistic view of the person, including sexual health.
7.3.1. Addition to psychological knowledge regarding sexual health information This research explored underlying themes which may inhibit or promote the ease or discomfort a trainee psychologist manages the topic of sexual health during the intake interview with a new client.
7.3.2. Encouraging a reflexive stance and personal growth
This study may provide stimulating reading to encourage trainee psychologists and professionals to assume a reflexive stance particularly regarding such a complex topic as sexual health.
Furthermore to promote constant re-evaluating and challenging the taken-for-granted-truths and to practice taking a 'not-knowing stance'. Added to this to be aware of the value of developing a relational understanding of the context of the trainee psychologist as well as the client. Finally to engage with the context of the client as well as to encourage therapists to explore their personal attitudes towards the topic of sexuality (Buehler, 2014).
132 "What counts in the things said by men is not so much what they may have thought or the extent to which these things represent their thoughts, as that which systemizes them from the outset, thus making them thereafter endlessly accessible to new discourses and open to the task of transforming them."
- Michel Foucault (The Birth of the Clinic)
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