Browsing by Author "Kottler, Amanda"
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- ItemOpen AccessAIDS/representation and psychological practice : (inter)subjectivity in HIV counselling(1996) Sandenbergh, Rob; Kottler, AmandaThis study undertakes a discourse analysis of a counselling session with an HIV positive man. Literature, informed by post-structuralism, on the representations and practices that surround the HIV/AIDS epidemic is examined as a background to the study. Self psychological theory concerning mourning, the psychodynamic consequences of having AIDS and selfobject phantasies is examined. This theory is criticised for ignoring the content of phantasies as well as the imbrication of the subject within the social. In an attempt to address these gaps theorisation of stigma and gendered development is introduced, as well as Hollway's (1984) broadly Foucauldian notions of investment in subject positionings. A multiple theoretical position conceptualising counselling as (inter)subjective process re-producing particular subject positionings is developed. The relations between various subject positions are described, drawing on self psychological theory to consider the investments the participants in the session may have had in each position. The analytic reading suggests that in the elaboration of particular selfobject phantasies the HIV positive client is able to cohese his sense of self and to disavow a knowing of himself as a stigmatised person with AIDS. The counsellor, through subject positionings which are in conjuncture with those of the client, disavows a knowing of the client as a person with AIDS. Through these positionings a necessary allusion of attunement is produced, allowing the counsellor to mirror the client. From this analysis various implications for consultation, supervision and training are drawn. The study .suggests that multiple ways in which HIV I AIDS is represented requires psychologists to explore their own positionings with regards to salient HIV/AIDS related issues, as these positionings have effects in work in this field.
- ItemOpen AccessExperiences African domestic workers undergo as a result of sending their children to predominantly white schools(1996) Mange, Nondwe Portia; Kottler, AmandaSending African children to white schools brings about potential problems for all parties involved. However, the complications are more pronounced in situations where the child's mother is a domestic worker and the employer assumes an active role in the child's education. One such case triggered this research. Based on that particular case, the aim of this study was to explore experiences and feelings of African domestic workers with children in white schools.
- ItemOpen AccessLearning therapy : some reflections on the constraints and dilemmas involved : a case study(1991) Kottler, Amanda; Levett, AnnThis dissertation reviews the process of learning psychotherapy. It focuses on the second year of a two-year course work degree at the University of Cape Town, the M.A. in Clinical Psychology. In problematizing the method of teaching psychotherapy, Steiner's (1984) three essential elements for training psychotherapists are introduced (i.e. a personal therapy, abundant clinical experience with supervision and a study of theory). These are used as a structure in which to consider the training programme outlined. A suggestion is made that the learning process necessitates a difficult intellectual and emotional rite of passage, a theme referred to throughout the study. The personal process of 'growing' into a Kleinian I Object Relations orientation is described. Some theoretical concepts central to this framework are introduced. Clinical case material (derived from therapy notes collected over a period of 47 weeks) is used to demonstrate a developing understanding of these concepts. Some of the dilemmas of a trainee therapist grappling with the process are described. The constraints of learning therapy within the context described, i.e. within a course which is not focussed exclusively on therapy training are highlighted. In concluding that trainers are ambivalent about the psychotherapy component of the programme described. the study offers some useful insights for trainers, supervisors and trainees.
- ItemOpen AccessRites of passage: Identity and the training of clinical psychologists in the current South African context(2004) Kottler, Amanda; Swartz, SallyThis article attempts to make sense of the clinical psychology training experience, as a negotiation of personal and professional identity. It suggests that the training, particularly in the first year, is a rite of passage, in many respects similar to an initiation process. Rites of passage can be seen as processes marking shifts in status and social identity. In the case of training to be a psychologist this change involves the movement from lay to professional status. There are three phases involved in the transitional process. The first involves separation from other groups of postgraduate students, and also in different ways from friends and family through involvement in course material that is often both esoteric and confidential. The second phase is marked by a fluid and often confusing marginal state between student and professional identity. The third phase involves a reintegration back into society as a fully-fledged professional, once the training is over. This article focuses on the ambiguities of the marginal state as the primary identity position during training, and explores the implications of this, both for those being trained and for trainers.
- ItemOpen AccessStruggles of authenticity : gays' and lesbians' experiences of being closeted in the workplace during transition to constitutional equality in South Africa(1998) Hattingh, Charl; Kottler, AmandaThis case study aims to explore the experiential world of gays and lesbians who keep their sexual orientation secret from colleagues and superiors in the workplace. The study also considers the impact of the transition to constitutional equality for gays and lesbians in South Africa on the participants' occupational lives. Qualitative data were acquired from two sets of in-depth semi-structured interviews, conducted with four subjects in 1994 and again with the same subjects in 1996. Themes derived through phenomenological analysis are considered in the light of existential-analytic psychological theory. The exploration reveals that, within patriarchal work environments that remain homoprejudiced despite the constitutional provision for gay and lesbian equality, openness about sexual orientation requires considerable courage. Findings suggest that in these environments, gays and lesbians may be classified as dirty, diseased others. Through discriminatory acts of distortion, patriarchy attempts to dominate such others, and, with ultimate contempt, even to deny their existence. Gays and lesbians internalise general societal prejudice and discrimination against them. In their response to homoprejudice in the workplace. participants employed elaborate measures to safeguard themselves and pass as heterosexual. Their passing elicited guilt feelings, an implicit recognition of inauthenticity. and other indicators of neurosis, such as increased loneliness, isolation and feelings of estrangement. These manifestations were the consequence of participants' distortive attempts to create security where none could be guaranteed because of the contingent nature of human existence. To the extent that their concealment failed to bring security and reduce neurotic anxjety, it could be considered a flight from freedom. Passing left participants feeling invisible and inaudible, so that they existed as counterfeit images of themselves in inauthentic relationships with their colleagues. In this way, gays and lesbians as a group already isolated contribute to their own marginalisation. Nevertheless. constitutional guarantees in some cases increased feelings of power and security in that legal recourse had become possible in the event of intolerable, blatant discrimination. It is clear that the victory of constitutional equality was merely the beginning of a long struggle towards achieving this equality in practice. The recognition of equality grants gays and lesbians freedom, but also implies responsibility to advance courageously. The opportunities offered by the Constitution therefore represent a call to authenticity.
- ItemOpen AccessSupportive psychotherapy : an exploratory study of expressed views, feelings, practices and problems(1994) Roper, Mona; Kottler, AmandaSupportive psychotherapy is documented as the psychological treatment of choice for patients with severe psychopathology. It follows that this psychotherapy is particularly relevant to psychiatric hospitals which predominantly treat this category of patient. This study takes place at such a hospital. Problems which have implications for the practice and development of supportive psychotherapy, both at the hospital concerned and in general, have been reported. With a view to addressing these problems at the hospital, this dissertation explores some of the views, feelings, practices and problems regarding supportive psychotherapy reported by a number of clinicians at the hospital. An essentially qualitative research approach, involving interviews with 26 clinicians from various professional disciplines, is employed. A number of potential problems pertaining to terminology, definition, theoretical framework, referral, training and clinician attitudes are raised and discussed. Recommendations are made which are applicable to the hospital concerned, to teaching institutions, and to interested psychotherapists.