EVALUATION OF PSYCHOTHERAPY PRACTICE IN PAKISTAN - A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the ways in which psychotherapeutic interventions are being practiced in Pakistan currently. Other purposes of the study were to inquire about the outcome measures being used in the interventions and which measures are helpful to provide better results. Also in focus were the cultural barriers faced by the therapists and the clients during the interventions. For this purpose, five known psychologists were selected from two cities of the country, Lahore and Karachi. The study involved in depth structured interviews with the psychologists who helped shed light on the important aspects of therapy practice in Pakistan. The data was analyzed with the help of coding method of Grounded theory. The results highlighted the features of psychotherapeutic interventions in the country such as the effective ways of a therapy, forms of outcome measures and much more. The study revealed that personality of a therapist and client plus the therapeutic alliance helps to provide better results, both formal and informal assessments are used but informal assessments are better for Pakistan. Many cultural barriers are faced by the therapists such as joint family systems, stigmatization of psychological treatment and so on. The study also helped uncover some religious forms of interventions being used in the country and their efficacy. Also in addition the study compared the therapeutic practice of Pakistan with therapy practice abroad revealing that psychotherapeutic interventions in this country still require major work, training and supervision and that it cannot be internationally compared.