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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Helpless helpers
— primary care therapist self-efficacy working with intimate partner violence and ageing women | | Author(s) | Carlie Watson, Nikki Carthy, Sue Becker |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol 18, no 4, 2017 |
| Publisher | Emerald, 2017 |
| Pages | pp 222-234 |
| Source | http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/qaoa |
| Keywords | General practice ; Clinical psychologists ; Therapy ; Older women ; Middle aged ; Elder abuse ; Qualitative Studies. |
| Annotation | The authors explore primary care psychological therapists' experiences of working with mid-life and older women presenting with intimate partner violence (IPV). They conducted interviews with 17 practitioners. The data analysis was informed by a grounded theory approach, which requires three states of data coding: open, axial and selective. Data codes were thematically sorted into causal, contextual, strategic, intervening, interactional and consequential conditions. A core state of therapist helplessness was uncovered. The framework developed demonstrates that psychological therapists can doubt their ability to work meaningfully with women aged over 45 who were experiencing IPV. To avoid the core state of helplessness, therapists use strategies such as avoiding asking questions about partner violence, making assumptions of how patients interpret their own experiences, addressing symptoms rather than the root cause, and going above and beyond in attempts to rescue patients. The consequence of therapists' helplessness often results in burnout. The framework identifies barriers in working effectively with IPV and women in the mid to older-aged populations. This study is the first to suggest a framework that is grounded in practitioner experience, with capability to transfer to a range of professionals working with middle-aged to older women, such as forensic, medical and specialist psychologists. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-171208204 A |
| Classmark | L5: QT9A: LO: BD: SE: QNT: 3DP |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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