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The Self-focused Practice Questionnaire (SfPQ): Preliminary Psychometric Properties of a Measure of Therapist Self-focused Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2017

Craig Chigwedere ,
Brian Fitzmaurice  and
Gary Donohoe
Craig Chigwedere*
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Brian Fitzmaurice
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Gary Donohoe
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
*
Correspondence to Craig Chigwedere, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. E-mail: cchigwedere@stpatsmail.com
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Abstract

Background: Therapist self-practice, in its various forms, is common across therapeutic modalities, but a measure of its impact on participants does not yet exist. Aims: This paper describes the development and reliability testing of the ‘Self-focused Practice Questionnaire’ (SfPQ), a measure of self-perceived impact of one's self-focused practice. Method: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), internal consistency and reliability were assessed in a convenience sample of 112 trainee therapists. Results: Five factors, rating impacts on therapist Personal-self (Awareness of Developmental experiences, Experience of Personal Change and Felt-sense/Self-awareness), and Therapist-self (Internalization of the Model, and Development of Empathy) were identified, with good internal consistency and acceptable to good test–retest reliability. Conclusions: Though more work is needed, these preliminary results support the SfPQ's reliability and validity. The SfPQ is an important measure, which may enhance routine rating of self-focused practice in training institutions.

Keywords

Self-practice/self-reflectionpersonal training-therapyquestionnaire developmentexploratory factor analysisreliabilityvalidity
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 45 , Issue 5 , September 2017 , pp. 497 - 509
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2017 

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