Experiences of Young Clinical Psychologists Dealing with Clients having Different Sexual Orientations
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An exciting and challenging avenue for young clinical psychologists is to work with clients having different sexual orientations. The existing literature lacks the experience-based reporting of such challenges. Hence, by exploring these challenges, the training programs can be better planned. Hence, the current qualitative study used the phenomenology approach to explore the challenges experienced by young clinical psychologists dealing with clients having different sexual orientations. A purposive sample of eight young clinical psychologists was selected for a semi-structured interview. The descriptive phenomenology analysis identified four themes: (1) “training barrier”; (2) “construct diversity issues”; (3) “cultural challenges”; and (4) “therapists’ biases”. The common challenge experienced by the participants was the training barrier regarding assessment and intervention for mental health concerns of the clients having different sexual orientations. The results highlight the importance of incorporating the perspective of young clinical psychologists to plan better training programs in order to make them competent mental health service providers.
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