Method
This topic is of particular personal interest to myself as I want to know how mandatory personal therapy has affected trainee counsellors if at all. Although, I have had a positive experience initially the financial burden and extra hours put me off from starting in the beginning of my second year. If I had been aware of the advantages before, this is something I felt I should have started in the beginning of my second year. As fellow students started their personal therapy, I heard negative and positive experiences with different counsellors; I felt it was important to find the right counsellor.
Design
A qualitative interview-based research method using thematic analysis was decided upon as the most appropriate method by Braun and Clarke (2006 p.77). The researcher will interview participants in a semi-structured interview all interviews will be recorded and transcribed accurately in order to keep the integrity of the study and not to lose any subjective matter from the client. According to Mcleod (2006 p.30) "each hour will take 4 hrs to transcribe". This is useful to know at the design stage to allow for extra time for the transcribing. The results will then be analysed from the recordings looking for common themes participants mention as important to them and allowing themes to emerge.
Participants
Five participants will be chosen as in qualitative research five is an appropriate number to be able to show effective results. I would like to use five different counselling trainees from five different places of study or universities but all studying a foundation degree in counselling and all trainees are third year students. All participants should also have started their placements. Participants’ ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious persuasion, social class and age will be noted but not specified in this research project. Although this would be of interest and can be used for further research as greater diversity of participants would be better. Also the type of personal therapy undertaken will also be noted, whether it is psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural or any other type.
Materials
A digital dictaphone will be used to record all interviews which will then be deleted after the data has been analysed. An ethical approval form provided by Newman University College Supervisor will be used and a consent form for each participant. The researcher will have a list of questions (attached in the appendix) to keep focus during the interview however; freelance questions will also be asked depending on each interview (the questions may be altered after the initial pilot).
Procedure
I will be adhering to Bonds ethical guidelines (2004) and informing participants that they can, at any time refuse to continue or answer questions. These guidelines are in place to ensure participants do not feel pressured in to continuing with the interview or any aspect of it if they do not feel comfortable discussing it. It will also hopefully create an understanding and a bond between the interviewer and interviewee. Initially, a pilot will be carried out by a researcher to make sure the interview questions are appropriate. All participants will then sign a consent form and will be made aware that confidentiality will be used to conceal their identity. Five interviews will be carried out by the researcher, in private rooms at Newman University College or onsite at the different universities. Each interview will last 30 minutes and will be recorded by the Dictaphone. The recording will then be transcribed, and analysed looking for the main themes, and then finally further analyses will be done to investigate common themes.
Results
Thematic analysis will be used as this is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It organises and describes the data in detail. “However, frequently if goes further than this, and interprets various aspects of the research topic” (Boyatzis,1998; Roulston, 2001) (Braun & Clark, 2006).
Discussion and Limitations
I expect the results to be positive as I believe that personal therapy only helps a trainee counsellor to grow and explore their own experiences. Personal therapy has given me an insight in to my clients and the work I do with them. Although at present I my clients do not pay for therapy and so they are not faced with the constraints of financial hardship, however, my clients have to juggle their time between work and coming to therapy.
According to King (2011) personal therapy increases trainee counsellors self awareness giving them the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the counselling experience their clients may be experiencing. I feel that although the extra time and finances dedicated to therapy puts an extra strain on trainee counsellors the rewards are greater. However, it is of utmost importance to find a counsellor that is suited to you. As the most important part of the process is the therapeutic relationship, it is important to a bond with your counsellor.
This is a short study in to personal therapy and has its limitations. There are many other factors that still need to be investigated further. According to McLeod (1994) the relevance for counselling of social class, ethnicity, religious orientation and sexual orientation, the existence of ineffective or harmful practitioners and organisational influences on counselling practice also need to be addressed. This is something I would like to investigate further. As yet I have not come across a study that looks specifically at the above in detail.
In this study this is not something I can fully assess within the time constraints of the proposal as I feel it will take longer than six months. Participants would need to be carefully selected and this process in itself could easily take six months. As there are fewer numbers of ethnic minorities training as counsellors although the numbers are growing and one would hope in future a diverse ethnic sample could be achieved.
Reference:
Braun, Virginia and Clarke, Victoria (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3: 77-101. Available at: (Accessed 29 December 2011).
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Rugby: BACP; 2004. www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework
Bond, Tim (2004) Ethical guidelines for researching counselling and psychotherapy. Rugby: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Lutterworth: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Haenisch, Carmen Von (2011) ‘How did compulsory therapy during counselling training influence personal and professional development?’, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 11 (2).148-155.
King, Gail (2011) ‘Psychodynamic therapists’dilemmas in providing personal therapy to therapists in training: An exploratory study, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 11 (3).186-195
McLeod, J. (2003) Doing Counselling Research. 2nd edn. Sage Publications Ltd: London.
Murphy, David.(2005)” A qualitative study into the experience of mandatory personal therapy during training”, Counselling & Psychotherapy Research, Vol 5(1). 27-32.
Oteiza, Vicky (2010) Therapist’s experience of personal therapy: a descriptive phenomenological study, Counselling & Psychotherapy Research – Vol 10 (3). 222-228
Sanders, P. and Wilkins, P. (2010) First Steps in Practitioner Research. PCCS Books.
Appendix
Questionnaire:
Where you aware how much personal therapy was required for the course?
What did you feel about having to have mandatory personal therapy?
How did having personal therapy affect your week?
How did the extra financial burden affect you? If at all.
What do you feel you have gained/lost from personal therapy?
