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Introduction

Abstract The aim of this qualitative research study is to determine the affects of personal therapy on trainee counsellors. Five trainee counsellors will be interviewed to see what the impact of having to undertake mandatory personal therapy as part of their foundation degree course has had on them. Semi-structured interviews will be used, then thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) will be used to analyse these findings. The focus of the research will be to see how personal therapy has affected the trainees financially, emotionally, managing their time to attend sessions and any other ways in which it might have affected them. Introduction Some studies have been undertaken investigating the affects of personal therapy on trainee counsellors. The research on therapists' experience of personal therapy: A descriptive phenomenological study by Oteiza, V (2010) stated that participants acknowledged a positive response to personal therapy and stated that eight out of ten participants found that fifty hours of therapy was not long enough. The limitations of this study were the fact that all counsellors had at least fifteen years experience and were all Spanish. This for me suggested further investigation in to trainee experience was needed. ...read more.

Middle

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. ...read more.

Conclusion

Reference: Braun, Virginia and Clarke, Victoria (2006) 'Using thematic analysis in psychology', Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3: 77-101. Available at: http://www.QualResearchPych.com (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? ...read more.

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