Abstract:
This research is qualitatively aimed at investigating how female clinical
psychologists reflect on the construction of gender in psychotherapy. The motivation
behind such research was to investigate how gender influences the co-construction of
reality within this space. Female clinical psychologists were interviewed due to the
historical prejudice of the female gender in psychology. Where previous research has
been directed towards patients' experiences of gender, this study aimed to understand
the psychotherapist's understanding of it. Gender has been treated as static within
psychology. In addition, feminist constructionist writers have argued for a more
analytical engagement with gender in the field. This is important in the South
African context, as previous research has indicated psychologist may be ill equipped
in their training to deal with gender and gender-based violence.
This study is positioned from a social constructionist epistemology. It is concerned
with constructions of gender through talk-as-interaction. It considers the usage of
language as the vehicle of such construction. Therefore the method of analysis used
here is conversational analysis, as to consider just how these psychologists construct
gender. Hence, this research is of a descriptive nature. Some of the finding of this
research indicate that gender is not only present in psychotherapy, but important in
its work. Even though gender was difficult to describe outside of anatomical
difference, these therapists indicated how it affected their therapeutic work. This was
described through gendered projections and transference. These psychologists
believed that their limited training affected their initial work with gender, often
requiring them to learn about it in vivo.
