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Finding a Therapist That ‘Speaks Your Language’: How Psychotherapists Discursively Construct the Problems They Treat
Petersen, Corey E
Petersen, Corey E
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Abstract
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans experience a diagnosable mental illness every year (SAMHSA, 2019). Although this statistic may be alarming in conjunction with the escalating need for accessible psychotherapy services (Cohn, 2015), it does not account for all of the reasons outside of clinical diagnosis that individuals may seek these services. These reasons, or “presenting problems” in the verbiage of mental and medical health professionals, can act as mediators between an individual’s current cognitive and emotional experience and their self-evaluated need for psychotherapy. The current study aimed to identify and explain the ways in which psychotherapists construct presenting problem discourse to their potential patients through the media where this discourse is most likely to be seen, the internet. An exploratory thematic analysis of 40 clinical psychotherapists’ Psychology Today profiles and websites (208 webpages in total) was conducted to uncover the five major themes for the discursive construction of presenting problems. They are: (1) lay description, (2) clinical diagnoses, (3) ailing identities, (4) the enigmatic self, and (5) cosmetic psychotherapy. These themes represent the various types of presenting problem messages that individuals considering psychotherapy observe from the clinicians they are considering choosing. The findings highlight multiple ethical considerations for presenting problem discourse, such as the use of identity labels and vague phraseology in mental health marketing. Practical implications suggest a need for psychotherapists to be better informed on presenting problem discourse strategies and should practice awareness in their message construction.
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Date
2023-05-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Communication, Therapy, Marketing, Language, Online Advertising, Presenting Problem, Psychotherapy