Doctoral Thesis
Affective maturity
Conceptual delimitation and experience of psychotherapists in the clinical setting
In the field of scientific literature in psychology there does not currently seem to be a theoretical body referring to the construct affective maturity (hereinafter AM). There are, however, scientific programs of study related to affectivity or emotion, which have allowed the development of related constructs, such as emotional regulation, skill emotional, and emotional intelligence, among others; and theories of emotion, such as the theory of Magda Arnold, Arnold Lazarus, Conrad W. Baars and Anna A. Terruwe. Although these theories and constructs have proven necessary and useful, we consider that the scientific study of the affective dimension of the person, from the psychological perspective, presents some limitations that could be compensated by a more solid proposal on the MA construct.
Furthermore, in the field of clinical internship it seems that professionals do use the term MA. Although it is usually posed in the negative, from immaturity, therapists understand their patients as more or less affectively mature. This is very striking, since affective maturity is not included in any nosological guide as a diagnostic criterion, nor is it understood as a symptom as such. However, due to the lack of sufficient literature on this construct, it is not possible that there is a unified criterion among professionals when referring to affective maturity. That is, it is likely that each therapist approaches this issue from a different perspective or assigns to his or her representation of an affectively mature person a series of characteristics that will not necessarily coincide with the rest. Moreover, in the particular field of the Catholic Church, MA has come to be considered a necessary element in order to obtain permission to be ordained a priest or, in some cases, to marry.
THIS RESEARCH STUDIES THE CONCEPT OF 'AFFECTIVE MATURITY' THROUGH THE EXISTING LITERATURE AND THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGISTS, PSYCHIATRISTS AND THE RELEVANCE OF APPROACHING IT IN THE THERAPEUTIC CONTEXT.
Doctoral candidate:
Pilar Aviñó de Pablo
1
To reflect what exists in the literature on the affective maturity construct.
2
To gather the perspective of psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists regarding what affective maturity is and how necessary/important it is to address this construct in therapy.
An attempt will be made to reflect the gap that exists between the scientific literature and the clinical internship with respect to AM, while at the same time seeking to identify elements of connection. With this, the aim is to propose a new definition of affective maturity that integrates the perspective of professionals and the scientific literature and that serves, on the one hand, as a starting point to generate new scientific knowledge and, on the other hand, can lead to interventions and protocols to work on affective maturity from the clinical setting.
A review of the literature following a protocol de scoping review
An empirical study
A discussion that integrates both elements.
Methodology
The aim is to obtain a sample of between 150 and 250 participants, composed of general health psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists (spanish psychology residency program ) and therapists, who work in the public or private clinical setting in Spain, with adolescent and adult populations (from 16 years of age), regardless of where they have completed their academic or professional training . They may belong to any psychological school or current, without age restrictions and with a minimum of one year of professional experience.
Directors of the thesis
Martiño Rodríguez González
mrgonzalez@unav.es
Maria Calatrava
mcalatrava@unav.es