Therapist conducted debriefing interviews

Abstract

<p>The use of ethnographic debriefing interviews has increasingly been used as an effective means of introducing information into the therapeutic system. Research has demonstrated that these interviews are an important addition to the overall family therapy process. This dissertation describes client family experiences of being debriefed by their therapist and a separate debriefer. Results indicated that clients are willing to be debriefed about their therapy experience by either therapist or debriefer. Several important domains were examined by families. These include: Therapist and debriefer comparisons, preference for debriefer, preference for therapist, experience of being debriefed, and how debriefing could be made better. Domains which emerged from conversational digressions included: Frequency of debriefing, influence of debriefing upon families, discomfort with communicating negative experiences, client satisfaction with therapy as a result of debriefing, debriefing as therapeutic, and rapport with therapist. Results seem to have furnished new information to the overall understanding of how these two methods of debriefing compare, the utility of debriefing interviews for families, and its value as a therapy tool and public relations device.</p>