‘Rarely discussed but always present’: Exploring therapists’ accounts of the relationship between social class, mental health and therapy

McEvoy, Charlotte; Clarke, Victoria; Thomas, Zoe

Abstract

With a few exceptions, the subject of social class has rarely been addressed in counselling and psychotherapy research. This study seeks to contribute to redressing this omission by exploring therapists’ accounts of how social class operates within therapy, its impact on the therapeutic relationship, and the relationship between social class and mental health. Eighty-seven practicing psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists, from trainees to experienced practitioners, completed an online qualitative survey about social class in therapy. Critical thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and explore the therapists’ sense-making around social class. One (smaller) group of therapists located individuals’ mental health difficulties within the wider socio-political context and positioned class differences in therapy as something that cannot be transcended by the therapeutic relationship. Another (larger) group of therapists framed psychological distress in individual and psychological terms and as separate from the wider socio-political context and constructed class differences as something that can be transcended in therapy. We take a political stance in interpreting this analysis and argue that the dominance of ‘oppression-blind’ sense-making arguably points to a need for a change in class-consciousness at the heart of counselling, psychotherapy and psychology, so that therapists are more cognisant of the relationship between mental health and clients’ socio-political context, and their own social power in the therapeutic relationship.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 11, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Deposit Date: Jan 20, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 21, 2022
• Journal: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
• Print ISSN: 1473-3145
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-1405
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 324-334
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12382
• Keywords: Class‐consciousness; ‘oppression‐blind’; qualitative survey; thematic analysis
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7004010