Tending the grapevine: a qualitative analysis of responses to a psychotherapist-in-training testing positive for COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Very little published research explores responses of universities to their trainees during a crisis or emergency. We used a qualitative approach to gather information regarding a university’s first counseling psychology doctoral trainee with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. Six participants (two administrators, four trainees) responded to a series of critical-incident questions to identify helpful and hindering responses, as well as a wish list of items that would have been helpful to have at the time of the event. From thematic analysis emerged 34 themes, six broader categories, and many helpful, hindering, and wish-list items. The broader categories were health anxiety, emotional responses, stigma, support, rules/guidelines, and systems responses. Perhaps the most striking finding, which occurred across most participants and several categories, was participants’ complex and contradictory experiences and responses, suggesting that the precipitating event of a trainee testing positive for COVID-19 activated a great deal of conflicted motivation. This research provides the benefit of experience for other university trainees and training sites regarding a little-understood crisis event. Implications for best practices are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus
• counseling psychology training
• COVID-19
• pandemic planning
• privacy
• stigma
• training climate

Disclosure statement

The authors acknowledge the presence of potential conflicts of interest in conducting the present study; therefore, IRB approved precautions were taken to address these concerns. Confidentiality challenges preclude more specific articulation of these conflicts of interest

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristen M. Kent

Kristen M. Kent, M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of Florida. Her research interests include philosophy of science, intellectual humility, and psychotherapy processes and outcomes.

Maggie L. Hogan

Maggie L. Hogan, M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of Florida. Her research interests include health disparities, culturally sensitive healthcare, and the impact of minority stressors on LGBTQ+ mental and physical health.

David B. Riddle

David B. Riddle, M.Ed., is a doctoral candidate in the School Psychology doctoral program at the University of Florida. His research interests include school mental health, improving identification and receipt of services for students, and systems-level response to attending to student mental health.

Martin Heesacker

Martin Heesacker, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. His research focuses on understudied aspects of bias and prejudice, attitude change and psychotherapy, and computerized assessment and psychotherapy.