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Rahimi Fard Jahromi, Seyedeh Dorna

University of British Columbia

Feedback sessions are crucial in psychological assessments, where psychologists share assessment findings with parents. However, these sessions receive little attention in research and training. This is especially problematic given our increasingly diverse population, emphasizing the need to improve communication with immigrant parents. The primary objective of the three studies included in this dissertation was to employ discursive approaches to investigate prevailing ideologies concerning communication and emotions within the realm of psychology. Specifically, I employed a range of discursive approaches, such as Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Critical Discursive Psychology, to study how psychologists and immigrant families navigate discussions of their experiences during feedback sessions. In the first study, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of prevalent training materials addressing effective communication in feedback sessions revealed that these texts predominantly endorse a positivist epistemology. Similar tensions and ideological complexities emerged from interviews and focus groups involving 12 psychologists (Study Three). These professionals demonstrated a diverse array of verbal and non-verbal cues, effectively navigating contrasting emotional categories while simultaneously constructing and negotiating their professional identities. In parallel, interviews conducted with three immigrant parents (Study Two) revealed strategic employment of emotion discourse to align with positions likely to garner support from professionals for their children. Findings demonstrate that to facilitate meaningful progress in communication with immigrant parents, psychologists, supervisors, and training programs must critically reflect on their ingrained assumptions and challenge prevailing ideologies within the field. Such introspection and critique are essential steps toward effecting positive change and improvement in effective communication with immigrant parents.

Text

2024-10-09

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89370

School and Applied Child Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/