Exploring psychosocial experiences of behavior therapists dealing with children having autism spectrum disorder

• Published in: Clinical child psychology and psychiatry Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 274 - 286
• Main Authors: Shahid, Samia, Javed, Fatima, Iqbal, Muhammad Nasar, Rafiq, Muhammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-01-2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Autism; Autistic children; Behavior; Burnout; Coping; Coping strategies; Interpretative phenomenological analysis; Job satisfaction; Occupational stress; Phenomenological research; Psychosocial factors; Qualitative research; Therapists; Welfare; psychosocial experiences; behavior therapist; Pakistan; qualitative research; Autism spectrum disorder
• ISSN: 1359-1045; 1461-7021
• DOI: 10.1177/13591045231209363

Behavior therapists play an important role in the life of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Literature reported that child’s improvement depends on the quality of therapy they receive. Therefore, the current study aims to explore the psychosocial experiences of behavior therapist working with children having ASD, and suggest the coping strategies which they use to deal with those stressors. The study utilizes a qualitative research design with a phenomenological research approach to explore the psychosocial experiences. For this purpose, the researchers conduct semi-structured interviews of 6 behavior therapists, ages ranging from 25 to 35 years. They note the verbatim of the therapists and convert into codes to create themes and categories. Furthermore, the study utilizes Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis for the interpretation of the results. The results of this phenomenological research indicate six superordinate themes emerged from the transcripts. The results demonstrate professional and psychological experiences of behavior therapists along with the social and the health issues faced by the children with ASD, and the coping strategies used by the therapists that is emotion focused coping, problem focused coping and maladaptive copings. Gaining insight into therapists’ psychosocial experiences can pave the way for developing approaches aimed at enhancing their overall welfare. These approaches may encompass initiatives to alleviate stress, mitigate burnout, and boost job satisfaction.