Abstract

FERNANDEZ SANZ, Sofía; FERNANDEZ GONZALEZ, Olga  and  KRAUSE JACOB, Mariane. Children and Parents´ Expectation regarding Child Psychotherapy. CES Psicol [online]. 2021, vol.14, n.2, pp.48-70.  Epub Feb 28, 2022. ISSN 2011-3080.  https://doi.org/10.21615/cesp.5355.

This research aims to analyze qualitatively children and their parents’ expectation regarding child psychotherapy, and the relationship between the different variables involved in the process of building these expectations. 10 dyads, consisted of children aged between 7 and 10 and their parents, were the participants. The study included a total of 20 semi-structured interviews, applied to each participant separately. Afterwards, a qualitative analysis of the information was conducted, based on Grounded Theory procedures of open and axial coding. The results show that children develop expectations about the process and outcomes from previous experiences with psychologists and from information provided by parents about the role of the psychologist as "someone who helps”. In the parents´ case, their expectations are constructed based on prior psychological experiences and information obtained from the sociocultural context. These experiences influence the parents’ psychological view about their child's problem and a perception of the psychologist's role as a professional who helps not only their child, but also them in the development of parenting skills. Additionally, from these experiences, parents expect to adopt a more participatory role in their children’s process.

Keywords : child psychotherapy; clinical psychology; expectations of psychotherapy; qualitative research.

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