| Family therapists anecdotally discuss intuition as important to their clinical work. However, there is no shared understanding of intuition or how it is used clinically. This qualitative phenomenological study explored how family therapists clinically use and understand intuition. The researcher conducted face-to-face interviews with eight experienced female family therapists from Houston. The results indicated intuition is a non-rational way of knowing that is fueled by life experiences and accumulated knowledge. Intuition occurs when pieces of stored information coalesce to form a cohesive understanding. The more experienced the therapists are, the greater their reliance on intuition in clinical practice with clients. Attributes of an intuitive therapist were identified as a belief and trust in intuition, self-awareness and self-care, self-confidence, attentiveness, and the ability to build relationships. When intuition occurred for the eight participants, it was experienced cognitively, emotionally, or physically. Participants, informed by their experiences, stressed that intuition should be used cautiously. Therapists were able to ascertain true intuition as it was accompanied by a sense of rightness and persistence. The participating therapists also used client checking and corroborating information to confirm intuition. This study's results imply that training of therapists should include development of intuitive abilities. Recommendations for future studies include using a larger and more diverse sampling of family therapists to extend the results of this study, and studies exploring the clients' perspectives when intuition is used in their sessions. |
