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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Counsellors’ experience of emphatic difficulty : a phenomenological study Scerri, Clarisa Sammut
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to capture the lived experience of counsellors, when they encounter empathic difficulties with their clients. Five female counsellors were asked to reflect on situations from their counselling practice where they felt emotionally withdrawing from their clients or felt over-involved with the clients' concerns. A phenomenological approach was utilized as methodology to guide this study. The data collection strategies included a 3-hour workshop that introduced the topic to the participants, helped establish trust and rapport with the participants and helped normalize the participants' experiences. Then, 3 in-depth interviews were carried out with each participant. Each interview was audio-taped and transcribed. Furthermore, data collection was also supplemented by the researcher's field notes. The participants reviewed each transcript before the next interview, so that the transcripts themselves served as further reflective material for the participants. The process of thematic analysis yielded 4 major themes. These were: (a) experiencing countertransference reactions; (b) experiencing feelings of inadequacy and professional shame; (c) experiencing the need for self-care and burnout prevention and (d) experiencing psychological growth and transformation. These themes led to a number of implications for counselling practice as well as for future research. One major implication is that despite their training and competence, counsellors are ultimately as human and as vulnerable as their clients, having their own blind-spots, conflicts and personal experiences and because of this vulnerability, empathic difficulties are inevitable in a therapeutic setting. In this respect, the recognition of countertransference reactions is an important tool for counsellors' self-care and burnout prevention. Other implications concern supervision practices and curriculum concerns for counsellors' training programs.
Item Metadata
Title |
Counsellors’ experience of emphatic difficulty : a phenomenological study
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1997
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Description |
The purpose of this study was to capture the lived experience of counsellors, when
they encounter empathic difficulties with their clients. Five female counsellors were asked
to reflect on situations from their counselling practice where they felt emotionally
withdrawing from their clients or felt over-involved with the clients' concerns.
A phenomenological approach was utilized as methodology to guide this study.
The data collection strategies included a 3-hour workshop that introduced the topic to the
participants, helped establish trust and rapport with the participants and helped normalize
the participants' experiences. Then, 3 in-depth interviews were carried out with each
participant. Each interview was audio-taped and transcribed. Furthermore, data collection
was also supplemented by the researcher's field notes. The participants reviewed each
transcript before the next interview, so that the transcripts themselves served as further
reflective material for the participants.
The process of thematic analysis yielded 4 major themes. These were: (a)
experiencing countertransference reactions; (b) experiencing feelings of inadequacy and
professional shame; (c) experiencing the need for self-care and burnout prevention and
(d) experiencing psychological growth and transformation. These themes led to a number
of implications for counselling practice as well as for future research.
One major implication is that despite their training and competence, counsellors
are ultimately as human and as vulnerable as their clients, having their own blind-spots,
conflicts and personal experiences and because of this vulnerability, empathic difficulties
are inevitable in a therapeutic setting. In this respect, the recognition of
countertransference reactions is an important tool for counsellors' self-care and burnout prevention. Other implications concern supervision practices and curriculum concerns for
counsellors' training programs.
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Extent |
6681549 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-03-24
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0054007
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1997-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.