Facilitating Transitions in Time and Space Between Psychotherapy Sessions and Everyday Life: Therapists' Approach to Patients' Passages Into and Out of Therapy

ABSTRACT Objectives This study aimed to explore how therapists understand and approach patients' transitions between everyday life and therapy sessions. Design This was a qualitative study of therapists' experiences, making their implicit knowledge explicit and systematised. Methods Twelve semi‐structured interviews were conducted with psychodynamic/psychoanalytic therapists and analysed with inductive thematic analysis. Results The therapists lacked a conceptual framework for patients' transitions but could use conversations about transitions as a tool for deepening the therapeutic work. Clear therapeutic frames made the transitions more visible. Facilitating transitions into a therapy session was easier than out of a session. The therapists described a wide variation in their understanding of patients' behaviours at the threshold of sessions, which was a rich source of information about the patients' problems and the therapeutic progress. Conclusion Therapists have to pay attention and adapt to each patient's transitional needs and the phase of the therapeutic process. The transitions seem to be linked to emotions related to the therapeutic setting and thus need to be addressed. Our study showed that therapists had implicit knowledge in this area. This knowledge needs to be made explicit and available in the treatment of patients, for psychotherapy training, supervision and continuing education. Furthermore, there is a need for theoretical and conceptual developments within this area. This study highlights a phenomenon in therapy that has not been explored at length in research, and thus adds a new perspective when it comes to face‐to‐face sessions.