How working with couples who are separating might affect psychologists' own relationships

Abstract

Couple work is recognized as one of the most difficult cases to work with and it is considered one of the least successful. The aim of this study was to explore how the personal relationships of psychologists might be impacted due to their work with couples who are separating. Six semistructured interviews were conducted with six psychologists. These interviews were analyzed using Thematic Analysis after being transcribed verbatim. The findings suggest that the perceptions and behaviours of the psychologists have changed since they started working with couples who are separating. Thus, this impacted their relationships both positively and negatively. This research may contribute to enable psychologists to be more aware of the effects their professions leave on them and their relationships.