How do psychotherapists experience the psychotherapeutic mitwelt? A comparative study between existential and psychoanalytic practitioners

This study explores how existential and psychoanalytic practitioners experience the therapeutic relationship. Eight participants took part in semi-structured interviews, which focused on experiences and the meaning making processes of the participants. The data obtained from interviews was analysed using thematic analysis. Under four superordinate themes, a total of seven themes were reported on. The categorisation of the themes was drawn up in line with the aims of this study, identifying common ground and differences between the two approaches, and variations within each approach. Existing literature on the relational dimension of existential and psychoanalytic therapies was employed in order to make sense of the findings. The findings were discussed in light of present literature and practices in psychotherapy and counselling psychology. More similarities than differences were detected in the relational experiences of the participants from these two approaches, however, therapeutic actions and the methods employed to make sense of the relational experiences in therapy varied in line with how participants theoretically situate themselves in the consulting room. A separate section was dedicated to the implications of the findings, which may arise for practitioners in the field, in supervisory and training contexts, and for the fields of counselling psychology and psychotherapy. The dissertation concludes with elaborations on the limitations of this present research, recommendations for further research and concluding remarks.