Experiences of 1:1 therapy with clinical psychologists. Views from LD.

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  What are the experiences of one-to-one therapy with clinical psychologists? Views from people with Learning Disabilities.

• IRAS ID

  172867

• Contact name

  Joanna Cheng

• Sponsor organisation

  Lancaster University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 10 months, 7 days

• Research summary

  The title of the research project is: "What are the experiences of one-to-one therapy with clinical psychologists? Views from people with Learning Disabilities." This research project aims to develop an understanding towards experiences of people with Learning Disabilities who have engaged in face-to-face therapy with clinical psychologists. Therapeutic approaches are often adapted by Clinical Psychologists to meet the needs of people with Learning Disabilities (e.g. Sams, Collins & Reynolds, 2006; Whitehouse, Tudway, Look & Kroese, 2006). The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2003) recommends that integrative approaches are more helpful when working with people with Learning Disabilities, in comparison to rigid adherence to a particular model. The therapeutic relationship, change and the perceptions/expectations of Clinical Psychologists were the themes that emerged from a thematic analysis (Gifford, Evers & Walden, 2012). Gifford et al. (2012) recommended further investigation into areas which were unclear in their research, such as client's perception and expectations of clinical psychologists. This project hopes to build on the findings of Gifford et al. (2012) to understand therapeutic experiences of people with Learning Disabilities, and therefore will be a qualitative study. 6-12 participants will be recruited from Adult Learning Disability Community Teams in Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust. Clients who have completed face-to-face psychological interventions with clinical psychologists will be invited for an interview of their experiences. Participants can choose to be interviewed in their home or a NHS site. The semi-structured interview will last 60 minutes; they will be asked questions about what is important to them in therapy, what were their perceptions of their clinical psychologist and what they would like to be different. Participants will be involved for 4 weeks in total, and the study, including the write-up, will finish on February 2016. The findings will be useful for local service development and evaluations.

• REC name

  North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/NW/0374

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 May 2015

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion