Rights statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Theed, R. , Eccles, F. J. and Simpson, J. (2018), Understandings of psychological difficulties in people with the Huntington's disease gene and their expectations of psychological therapy. Psychol Psychother Theory Res Pract, 91: 216-231. doi:10.1111/papt.12157 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/papt.12157/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Understandings of psychological difficulties in people with the Huntington’s disease gene mutation and their expectations of psychological therapy
AU - Theed, Rachael
AU - Eccles, Fiona Juliet Rosalind
AU - Simpson, Jane
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Theed, R. , Eccles, F. J. and Simpson, J. (2018), Understandings of psychological difficulties in people with the Huntington's disease gene and their expectations of psychological therapy. Psychol Psychother Theory Res Pract, 91: 216-231. doi:10.1111/papt.12157 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/papt.12157/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - ObjectivesThis study sought to investigate how people who had tested positive for the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation understood and experienced psychological distress and their expectations of psychological therapy.DesignA qualitative methodology was adopted involving semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).MethodA total of nine participants (five women and four men) who had opted to engage in psychological therapy were recruited and interviewed prior to the start of this particular psychological therapeutic intervention. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA whereby themes were analysed within and across transcripts and classified into superordinate themes.ResultsThree superordinate themes were developed: Attributing psychological distress to HD: ‘you're blaming everything on that now’; Changes in attributions of distress over time: ‘in the past you'd just get on with it’; and Approaching therapy with an open mind, commitment, and hope: ‘a light at the end of the tunnel’.ConclusionUnderstandings of psychological distress in HD included biological and psychological explanations, with both often being accepted simultaneously by the same individual but with biomedical accounts generally dominating. Individual experience seemed to reflect a dynamic process whereby people's understanding and experience of their distress changed over time. Psychological therapy was accepted as a positive alternative to medication, providing people with HD with hope that their psychological well-being could be enhanced.
AB - ObjectivesThis study sought to investigate how people who had tested positive for the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation understood and experienced psychological distress and their expectations of psychological therapy.DesignA qualitative methodology was adopted involving semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).MethodA total of nine participants (five women and four men) who had opted to engage in psychological therapy were recruited and interviewed prior to the start of this particular psychological therapeutic intervention. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA whereby themes were analysed within and across transcripts and classified into superordinate themes.ResultsThree superordinate themes were developed: Attributing psychological distress to HD: ‘you're blaming everything on that now’; Changes in attributions of distress over time: ‘in the past you'd just get on with it’; and Approaching therapy with an open mind, commitment, and hope: ‘a light at the end of the tunnel’.ConclusionUnderstandings of psychological distress in HD included biological and psychological explanations, with both often being accepted simultaneously by the same individual but with biomedical accounts generally dominating. Individual experience seemed to reflect a dynamic process whereby people's understanding and experience of their distress changed over time. Psychological therapy was accepted as a positive alternative to medication, providing people with HD with hope that their psychological well-being could be enhanced.
KW - Huntington's disease
KW - mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy
KW - psychological difficulties
KW - psychological therapy
U2 - 10.1111/papt.12157
DO - 10.1111/papt.12157
M3 - Journal article
VL - 91
SP - 216
EP - 231
JO - Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice
JF - Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice
SN - 1476-0835
IS - 2
ER -