Personal and professional development activities are a central component of Counselling Psychology training due to regulatory requirements and the high value Counselling Psychology places on the therapist’s "self". Most research on the facilitation of personal and professional development focuses on specific training activities such as personal therapy and personal development groups. However, it is widely acknowledged that personal and professional development are also facilitated by aspects of training and life that are not designed for their facilitation. This research explores the relationship between trainee Counselling Psychologists’ personal and professional development and their client work. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse semi-structured interviews with six final year trainee Counselling Psychologists. Two main findings were identified: firstly, participants were unable to discuss their personal and professional development in relation to client work specifically; personal and professional development were facilitated by the relevance of specific experiences to individuals’ needs and preferences rather than activities having a direct facilitative effect themselves. Secondly, participants did not engage in active personal development work, and this was not explicitly discussed or structured in training. These findings imply that trainees may not develop optimally: as personal and professional development are highly individualised and complex processes, research and training that focuses on specific training activities may fail to interrogate the complexity of why and how personal and professional development are facilitated. Regulatory and ethical implications are discussed alongside existing literature to suggest the beginnings of a personal development curriculum for Counselling Psychology training.

Die Autorin des vorliegenden Heftes hat im Rahmen ihrer Diplomarbeit die Beratungsanliegen von Studierenden in der Psychosozialen Beratungsstelle systematisiert. Dabei hat sie sich an einer Übersicht persönlichkeitsstruktureller Fähigkeiten vs. Defizite (nach Gerd Rudolf 2006) orientiert und kommt zu erstaunlichen Ergebnissen. Schwierigkeiten im Beziehungsbereich zur Herkunftsfamilie sind danach das häufigste Beratungsanliegen gefolgt von Problemen mit Strukturierung, Orientierung und Selbstbild. Die empirisch analysierten „tatsächlichen Beratungsanliegen“ unterscheiden sich danach signifikant von sogen. „Beratungsanlässen“. So sind die psychologischen Berater in den Hochschulen insbesondere als Begleiter von Ablösungsprozessen und Brückenbauer in die Hochschul- und erwachsene Welt gefragt. [aus dem Vorwort]

This thesis comprises three main sections: a literature review, research report and a critical appraisal of the research process. The literature review is generic across a number of health professions and begins by placing supervision within its historical context followed by an attempt to clarify our current understanding of supervision. The literature relating to effective supervision is presented, with the supervisory working alliance being identified as potentially one of the most important common factors in the change process of supervision (Ellis, 1991). A review of supervision models suggests that they provide a structure for understanding the roles, relationships, responsibilities and processes integral to the practice of supervision. The review attempts to clarify the current state of supervision training, highlighting the lack of attention that has been paid to the process by which individuals learn to become effective supervisees and supervisors. It is concluded that there is a need for further research in the area of training for both supervisees and supervisors. The research report comprises a qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the supervision experiences of six Chartered Counselling Psychologists. The thematic content that emerged indicated a lack of preparation for the role of supervisee and a lack of formal training for the supervisory role. The findings revealed that the participants relied upon self-directed learning, their previous experience and their therapeutic skills to inform their supervisory practice. The findings also highlighted the critical role of the supervisory relationship for both supervisee and supervisor in managing the anxieties generated by this lack of preparation and training as well as in supporting the learning and development of all involved in the relationship. The final section is the researcher’s critical appraisal of the research process.

Objectives: Inclusion of sociopolitical context in therapeutic interventions is under-researched, largely limited to practitioners’ addressing diversity issues in therapy. Relevant studies have shown both trainees and qualified practitioners experience anxiety and discomfort associated with uncertainties about effectively incorporating diversity and sociopolitical context. Although various models exist to aid systematic case conceptualisation incorporating sociopolitical factors, these are not widely used. The majority of relevant literature continues to concentrate on idiosyncratic conceptual models specific to theoretical approaches. This study aimed to discover how qualified practitioners currently conceptualise and incorporate diversity and sociopolitical factors into practice. Design: Given the lack of research available to inform the area, a grounded theory study was conducted as an exploratory exercise. The qualitative approach was adopted to investigate practitioners’ subjective experiences of their current practice. Constructivist assumptions underpinned the approach to the data, leading to use of Charmaz’s (2006) version of the grounded theory approach. Method: Theoretical sampling was used to recruit the 13 participants. Two focus groups and 8 individual interviews were conducted. Analysis: Two models emerged, representing the processes practitioners engaged in to “find a comfortable fit”, and the range of contexts within which the processes took place. Personal and professional dissonance emerged as a central feature of practitioner development. Discussion: The study highlighted the contribution of dissonance and the situated nature of the practitioner as major contributors affecting how sociopolitical issues are conceptualised and addressed in therapy. Further research is needed to clarify how these factors may most usefully contribute to best practice. However, multiple ecological contexts cited as levels of influence add a degree of complexity that will require operationalizing by those wishing to investigate this area in the future.

Some seven percent of children in the general population are affected by Specific Language Impairment and/or Pragmatic Language Impairment with numerous cases undiagnosed. It is known that difficulty in communication affects psychosocial functioning and is likely to be a source of mental distress but the data on people’s access to and benefit from psychological intervention are limited. There is also limited understanding of psychologists’ capacity to meet these clients’ needs although their problems continue into adulthood. This research questions the population of counselling and clinical psychologists about their knowledge and experience of these disorders using an electronic questionnaire. Qualitative methods were then adopted with three participants with SLI/PLI and four psychologist practitioners familiar with such clients; this involved semi-structured interviews analysed using IPA and TA respectively. The purpose was to interpret and develop the clients' lived experiences into themes which were then used to look for possible connecting themes in the psychologists’ transcripts. This process was termed "interconnection" and was intended to reveal the coincidence and convergence of the two sides of the client/psychologist dyad. Results showed that whereas findings demonstrated the young men possessed a spectrum of coping and defence strategies as constituent parts of resilience, including self-esteem, self-identity and self-efficacy, the psychologists did not see the client as a congruent whole, addressing either their impairment or their mental health problem. Client resiliencies were not used in therapy and psychosocial difficulties were not recognised as a focus of distress although they did endeavour to modify their therapeutic approaches. Finally, consideration is given to whether the research aim is met, the implications for counselling psychology and possible future research. It is proposed that this methodology of interconnection has the potential to provide a novel approach to inform any future research and service development for this and other client groups in the way it takes patients/clients into account and connects them with professional working.

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Introduction: This is a study that explores how U.K.-based counselling psychology trainees perceive that they acquire the skills and abilities required for competent practice and their understanding of what it means to be competent practitioners. It outlines some of the factors that have influenced how therapeutic competence is defined in the current climate of NHS healthcare. It indicates that the training curriculum and the professional culture of their clinical placements influenced trainees' perceptions and definitions of therapeutic competence. Literature Review: The literature review for the thesis covers two major areas. Firstly the sources for discovering how therapeutic competence is defined in counselling and psychotherapy are presented before considering the standards for competent practice in counselling psychology. Secondly the literature on trainees' experiences in training and the qualitative studies related to trainees' experiences of developing competence in training. Key themes from this review indicate that the field of counselling psychology has a commitment to its philosophical roots in humanism, personal development, and evidence-based practice. Methodology: A philosophy of qualitative analysis which introduces the grounded theory method is outlined. The assumptions, values and epistemology of the researcher are stated. The phases of the study which include: 1, Recruitment, 2. Pilot Interviews, 3. Data Collection, 4. Data Analysis, and 5. Developing the Theoretical Framework are described. A qualitative research approach based on constructionist assumptions was utilised in this study. Eleven trainee counselling psychologists were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using grounded theory analysis. Findings: This section includes a summary of two analytical phases which produced focused codes and a coding hierarchy. The results were two core categories: Perceptions of Competence and Defining Competence. Seven subcategories were also developed. Three of these subcategories, Coursework, Observer Feedback and Self-Reflections on Competence, were associated with the core category, Perceptions of Competence. Four subcategories - Clinical Experience, Reflexive Thinking/Self-Awareness, Theories and Models, and Supervision - were linked with the core category, Defining Competence. Discussion: Methods were discussed by which trainees perceive, acquire, and define therapeutic competence. The themes of self-perception of competence and self-confidence were identified as being relevant to therapeutic competence. Some of the vehicles for developing competence were highlighted including the idea that participants reflect on their experiences in training and clinical practice to develop competence. Some surprising results included a lack of evidence to suggest that trainees were thinking about the influence of pharmacology on treatment and some key professional issues (like multicultural competence and the social justice agenda) did not garner very much attention in the interviews. My contribution to knowledge is to inform training and therapist development by illuminating these processes in the context of U.K. based training programmes and representing the trainees' voice in the literature on developing competence in counselling psychology.

Background and aims: The qualitative literature that has examined the topic of sudden and profound transformation has mostly focused on the antecedent and facilitative factors associated with this form of change. However, previous empirical research has noted the great difficulty participants experience when trying to arrive at an explanation for their change. Within this study, I have aimed to explore the lived experience of sudden personal transformation. Having experienced a life altering epiphany myself, I was compelled to investigate how others, who also identified as having experienced a sudden, transformative change, made sense of it. Participants' struggle to find the 'words that work' when retelling and interpreting their transformation experience developed to become one of the central focuses of this thesis. The lived body is conceptualised as an essential source of meaningful understanding, and therefore, is sought to be used as an instrument of data analysis. Method: Six participants took part in unstructured interviews which were transcribed, before applying an interpretative phenomenological analysis. With the aim of facilitating the development of emotionally receptive forms of understanding, an embodied interpretation was applied to each account, via the application of Gendlin's method of focusing. Found poems were also constructed. Findings: Five master themes were identified: 1) Making sense of what it is difficult to make sense of; 2) Who I was, what happened, who I am now; 3) Illuminating purpose; 4) Compelled to act; and 5) Attempting to capture the ineffable quality. Each master theme was identified as having two related sub-themes. The acceptance and appreciation of the experience as one which can never be fully explained played a vital role in the emerging meaning of the experience. Participants appeared to make sense of their transformation through the separation of their lives into the temporal categories of before and after the event. The lives of the participants were changed. New life paths became clear, and purpose was suddenly illuminated. For all the participants in the study, purpose appeared to be intimately linked with the creation of positive connections with others. Conclusions and Implications: Examination of how people experience positive change outside of the therapy room is of use to those seeking to support people who want to change within the realms of psychological therapy. Attendance to the researcher's bodily response to the research data was understood as enabling movement towards a fuller understanding of the phenomenon under examination, as well as facilitating the production of 'words that work'. It is concluded that therapeutic practitioners and other mental health professionals may benefit from understanding the dimensions of transformative change described here, in such qualitatively rich terms.

Background and objectives: Despite the large amount of research around counselling psychology and working with culture, ethnicity and religion, literature has mainly focused on clients' experiences of therapy. We know little about trainee counselling psychologists and how they experience working with clients from different ethnic and/or religious backgrounds. The objective of this study was therefore to explore UK-based trainee counselling psychologists and their experiences of working with clients from different backgrounds and to also explore educational implications trainee counselling psychologists identify when working with clients from different backgrounds. Therefore, following the aim of this study the two research questions, which will be, explored area as follows: 1. How do trainee counsellingpsychologists experience working with clients from different ethnic/religious backgrounds? and 2. What educational implications are identified by trainee counselling psychologists when working with clients from different ethnic/religious backgrounds to themselves? Method and analyses: A qualitative design was used within project. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve UK-based trainee counselling psychologists who had experiences of working with clients from different ethnic/religious backgrounds. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in order to inform the research and to also produce a coding template, which was used to analyse the findings of this thesis. The interview material was analysed using thematic analysis. Analysis: The findings from the first research question revealed eight major themes, which were extracted from the coding template, these themes included: challenges, exploration, relationship, client's perspective, appropriateness, competency, sense of self and emotional responses. These eight major themes were extracted via the coding template and expanded further as the interviews were analysed. The interviews provided a richer understanding ofthese themes and they are introduced and outlined in depth in turn. Following the first researchquestion, the second research question concentrates on educational implications identified by trainee counselling psychologists. These findings yielded a total of four main themes, which included: course input, practical experience, personal experience and reflectivity. These themes are also outlined and explored further in the discussion of this thesis. Conclusions: The research enabled, for the first time, an insight into trainee counselling psychologists' reported experiences of working with clients therapeutically who were from different ethnic/religious backgrounds. Some trainee counselling psychologists reported that rather than working with clients from different backgrounds, working with clients from similar backgrounds posed to be quite difficult as well. More importantly, the idea of reflectivity and personal growth were key elements identified when working with differences in therapy. Trainees expressed that their own sense of self and personal development were key factors when working with clients from different backgrounds. The Discussion of this thesis further expanded on the findings relevant in this thesis. Finally, the Conclusion explored the implications for counselling psychology and education, additionally future considerations for research are also mentioned.

Background: Therapeutic training is considered as the beginning of therapists' professional development. Research exploring the experiences of therapeutic training, particularly the experiences of trainee counselling psychologists is scarce. Additionally, research exploring the experiences of therapists integrating a new model of therapy is also limited; this is a surprising fact given the growing development of the integration movement in the therapeutic world. Aims: The present study explores how trainee counselling psychologists, with a prior training in a 'core' therapeutic model, experience and make sense of their current training in counselling psychology. As a secondary aim, this study explores how these trainees experienced integrating a new model of therapy in their practice and the process of integration within the context of counselling psychology training. Participants: Six trainee counselling psychologists from three different training courses based in the UK, who had all been previously trained in a single school model (primarily person-centred) participated in the study. Method: The present study is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study. Data were collected through single, semi-structured, in-depth interviews during which participants were invited to reflect on their experiences of training. Findings: The five super-ordinate themes that were identified in the participants' narratives are: 'Desires, Expectations and Needs from counselling psychology training', 'The turbulence of counselling psychology training', 'The Questioning I', 'The Changing Self' and the 'Finding Peace'. Each of these themes described different components of these trainees' experience of counselling psychology training and reveal that it is a challenging experience on both an emotional and an intellectual level. Discussion: The identified findings of the present study deconstruct, illuminate and are illuminated by existing theoretical and empirical literature. These findings shed light on the cyclical process of professional development within the context of professional training in counselling psychology in the UK.