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Chapter V
Discussion and Conclusions This study looked at the role of touch in psychodynamic psychotherapy, asking specific research questions and exploring them through both a qualitative and a quantitative methodological approach. For the quantitative study, the working hypothesis was that psychotherapists do experience touch in session, and that the therapists have ideas about its meaning and effect on countertransference. For the qualitative study, the researcher’s pre-study assumption was that touch in session has an effect on the countertransference experienced by psychodynamically-oriented clinical social worker psychotherapists, and that themes and concepts emerging from a discussion of this experience can be used to develop a greater understanding of the effect of touch on the therapist’s countertransference and on the therapeutic relationship. The project included collecting data directly from psychodynamically-oriented clinical social worker psychotherapists, analyzing the quantitative data using statistical methods, analyzing the qualitative data using phenomenological research methods, and suggesting possible answers to the research questions as well as implications for clinical practice and ideas for future research. Based on my review of the literature and much of the commentary on touch in psychodynamic psychotherapy, I anticipated that psychotherapists who agreed to
