Abstract
In addressing the client's needs for both complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) healing methods and psychotherapy (White, 2000; Saks, 2001), the psychotherapist's role is challenged. Research is needed in this area. From an applied phenomenological perspective, this research explores the problem of integration by interviewing psychotherapists who integrates their accredited psychotherapy and CAM qualifications into one practice. This research aims to ascertain what conscious experiences led these psychotherapists to integrate their two qualifications. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with such psychotherapists and the text was then thematically coded. Themes emerged from this thematic coding that describes the essences of these experiences. Such themes form the results of this dissertation. One of the main results indicated that there was a change in philosophy of life for most of the psychotherapists during their integration processes. Further the process of integration was natural and self-perpetuating and self-reinforcing for these psychotherapists.
Mr. R. L. van Niekerk