Work of the Heart and the Mind: Authenticity of Self in Psychotherapy

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2011
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
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Thesis (B.A.)
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en_US
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
This thesis examines psychotherapists’ emotional regulation and conceptions of authenticity in their work and personal lives. Psychotherapy complicates emotion work as previously studied, by adding additional layers of an intimate, long-term therapeutic relationship and the necessary development of trust to enable patient healing. Rather than managerial-enforced regulation of workers’ emotion, therapists shape their own emotional guidelines and professional selves. My interviews with five psychotherapists reveal their conceptualizations of these selves and their different definitions of authenticity in the workplace. I find that an important part of professional agency for therapists is their individually constructed work/personal boundary, a protective layer for their well-being in and out of work. Their conceptions of authenticity of self at work break down the distinction between work and personal realms. Stronger conceptions of authentic selves in the office result in more post-work suffering. The more removed therapists’ “personal selves” from the workplace, therefore, the safer their emotional well-being.
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