Social Representations of the Therapeutic Relationship with a Transgender Person Among Psychologists

Abstract

Background and Aims

The therapeutic relationship is a central component of psychotherapy and a well-established predictor of treatment outcomes. However, despite extensive research in this area, the therapeutic relationship in psychological care for minority populations, particularly transgender clients, remains largely unexplored. This study aims to explore French psychologists' social representations of the therapeutic relationship with a transgender person. To do so, we relied on Abric's Central Core Theory as our theoretical framework.

Methods

The data were collected from a sample of 55 psychologists. We used prototypical analysis to identify the structuration of social representations and their central core element.

Results

Overall, psychologists view this relationship as grounded in empathic and compassionate listening, while emphasising the importance of alliance and respectful posture. Furthermore, the social representations appeared multidimensional. Notably, no elements appeared in the first periphery, suggesting a weak or insufficiently stabilised structuring of this concept.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the ongoing conceptual challenges in defining and operationalising the therapeutic relationship in this context, underscoring the need for more precise clinical guidelines and training to support work with stigmatised populations, in particular transgender clients.