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The Helping Encounter. Occupational Therapists' Perception of Therapeutic Relationships
Author(s) -
Norrby Eva,
Bellner AnnaLena
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.1995.tb00264.x
Subject(s) - occupational therapy , therapeutic relationship , perception , psychology , qualitative research , psychotherapist , action (physics) , rehabilitation , occupational science , nursing , medicine , psychiatry , sociology , social science , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
The present paper deals with the art of occupational therapy in terms of therapeutic, helping relationships. The aim was to get a picture of how occupational therapists perceive the therapeutic encounter with their patients. Sixteen qualified occupational therapists, from various occupational areas, were interviewed and a qualitative approach was employed to analyze their description of therapeutic encounters in clinical settings. The qualitative analyses were performed with sensitization as the principle objective and a tentative theoretical model was formed, developed by three content categories; 1) Basic Professional‐Oriented Helping; 2) Understanding‐Oriented Helping; and 3) Action‐Oriented Helping. The relationships between these categories constitute a dynamic complex pattern. One conclusion drawn from this model was that the therapists might have problems finding a balance between their aspiration for becoming professionalized and their belief in egalitarian patient‐therapist relationships in the rehabilitation treatment sessions.