Changed by the Encounter’: The Learning and Change that Counsellors and Psychotherapists Experience as a Result of their Work with Clients
Year: 2007
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis focuses on the learning and change that counsellors and psychotherapists\nexperience as a consequence of their work with clients. It details two qualitative studies: a\nconstructivist grounded theory study, and a co-operative self-search inquiry (CSSI) that is\nbased on both the heuristic and co-operative inquiry methodologies.\nAs part of the grounded theory study, I compared the learning and change in two cohorts of\nparticipants: a group of therapists who had had one or more significant experiences of\nworking with clients with HIV, and a group that had had no such experiences. Following\nthe theoretical sampling study and literature search, it became clear that no major\ndifferences seemed to be evident between the learning and change in both groups of\ntherapists. I therefore constructed a model of general therapist learning and change from\nthe findings of the grounded theory study. This model details the ways in which\ncounsellors and psychotherapists learn and change both personally and professionally as a\nresult of their work with clients. It also refers to the change process, difficult aspects of\nworking as a therapist and other catalysts of learning and change for therapists.\nFor the CSSI, I studied my own and a co-researcher’s learning and change experiences,\nwhich were recorded in journals over a period of 9 months. The findings of this study\ncomplement those of the grounded theory study by providing further insight into the ways\nin which learning experiences occur for therapists.\nI have linked my findings to some of the literature on education and learning, as well as the\nliterature on transformative learning, and have discussed their implications for practice,\ntraining and supervision in counselling and psychotherapy. As part of my reflexive\nprocess, and congruent with the theme of learning and change, I have also provided details\nabout the ways in which I have learnt and changed as a result of engaging in my doctoral\nstudies.
Author: Sarah Turner
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W605291421