Given that it has been estimated that more than half of the world’s population is bilingual (Grosjean, 2012, p6), language has become an attractive subject for researchers. From the counselling psychology delivery perspective, the issue of a diverse client base and the counselling psychologist’s working relationship is particularly relevant, not least since the language ability of therapists and clients is fundamental in forming an open understanding as a foundation for counselling psychology and other talking therapies. This research explores bilingual ethnic minority therapists’ lived experiences of providing psychological counselling in their native language in the UK. The research utilises research methodology known as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Seven bilingual therapists participated in the research. They provided talking therapies in their L1 (native) language, and L2 (English). Qualitative data collection utilised semi-structured indepth interviews. Research analysis produced three key themes: 1) Living with different languages (selfhood and emotions), 2) Lost in translation (training and supervision), and 3) Fantasy of knowing (double expectations, therapeutic relationships and pride). The results indicate that while bilingual therapists feel comforted by the connection to their own heritage and language, they may feel too close to their native-speaking clients’ issues that are being brought to the therapy sessions. They feel pride in providing this valuable service to linguistically diverse clients, but they do not want this to become their sole responsibility. The findings suggest that bilingual ethnic minority therapists feel they are unsupported when they provide therapy in their native language, especially from a training and supervision viewpoint. The implications for clinical practice are explored with reference to incorporating the psychological and therapeutic function of bilingualism into the training and supervision. The urgent needs for the enhancement of guidelines for bilingual counselling psychology are discussed, and directions for further research are offered.

Aim. This thesis explores how magical thinking is construed by counselling psychologists working in independent practice in Britain. It considers how magical thinking within counselling psychologists relates to working therapeutically with clients who engage in magical thinking. Background. Magical thinking has been widely researched by a number of disciplines. This includes some applied fields of psychology, but not counselling psychology. Method. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in Britain between July 2011 and February 2012. The purposive sample consisted of eight volunteer chartered counselling psychologists occupying different points on the Magical Ideation Scale (Eckblad and Chapman, 1983). Qualitative data analysis was guided by combining van Manen’s (1990,2002) hermeneutic phenomenology and Romanyshyn’s (2007) alchemical hermeneutics. Findings. Six major themes were identified: therapeutic work; identity and belonging; health and illness; art and science; development, evolution, and transition; sacred and secular. Conclusion. All participants to varying degrees demonstrated magical thinking and had worked with it in their clinical practice. However, their talk about it was linked to feelings of stigma and shame, and fear of judgement by others in the profession. Their approach to working with magical thinking was therefore often hidden. As such, lack of open discussion appears widespread. This means this area of practice will lack training and support, and any clear consensus on good practice. Overcoming barriers to discussing magical thinking within counselling psychology therefore seems an important area for future development. This thesis has made an original contribution in opening up that dialogue.

It was only as recently as 2001 that The National Census of Population (2001) included the category ‘mixed race’ for the first time in a British context. By 2006 the UK census showed a percentage increase, stating that mixed race people occupied 14.6% of the minority ethnic population from the previous census. The current ONS (2011) census shows that this figure is up nearly 50%, to almost a million mixed race people in the UK, yet there is a scarcity of mixed race research within the therapeutic field, with no published evidence of empirical studies investigating the British perspective. The present study draws on social constructionist and post- structural thinking, to observe how mixed race clients manage and construct their identity within the counselling room. Using 8 female heterosexual mixed race participants in medium to long term therapy, the study utilised Charmaz’s (2006) constructionist grounded theory to investigate the emerging discursive practices produced between the client and therapist, as well as examining the influence of the therapist in the production of such practices. The present findings suggested 3 main categories which pertained to: the misrecognition of mixed race clients; the therapist’s negotiation of the mixed race narrative; ontological insecurity and the cosmopolitan self. The study’s findings propose the formulation of a mixed race counselling model, incorporating social scripts of relevant insights into mixed race identity. It also urges counselling and psychology organisations to revise their ethical frameworks to include race in a meaningful way, and for training institutions to ensure understandings of race and mixed race are assessed within the context of working with clients.

Understanding sex and sexuality, particularly in the context of therapeutic work has been consistently identified as problematic. This qualitative study focused on the accounts of 8 counselling psychologists’ understanding and experiences of working with sex and sexuality. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted and three master themes were identified. These highlighted how participants negotiated firstly, the influences of circulating cultural norms, in the past and present, secondly, the diverse presentations of sexuality and thirdly, the challenges of working therapeutically in relation to sex and sexuality. These negotiations and challenges were presented in their appraisal of their own personal lives; and in their training and professional experiences in client work. Participants’ developing confidence as practitioners seemed to be related to their capacity to re-evaluate their understandings of sexuality both personally and in relation to their therapeutic work. Overall, this research makes visible how a reflexive approach can inform counselling psychologists’ understanding that sex and sexuality are not static concepts and require continual questioning and revision.

No description available.

Recent commentators have considered how the institutional changes that have taken place within the context of clinical practice in the UK over the past ten years exert pressures upon counselling psychologists to practice in particular ways. The aim of this investigation was to explore how counselling psychologists’ experience and draw upon the theories that are available to them to inform their clinical practice, and how the pressures generated by changes to context may be impacting upon this. Fifteen accredited practitioners were interviewed on a one to one basis. The interview data was transcribed and the 15 transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. The results of this investigation support previous findings that suggest counselling and psychotherapy practitioners’ tend to nurture a theoretically integrated, idiosyncratic approach to practice. The results go beyond those of prior studies due to their ability to trace the interaction existing between practitioners’ use of theory and the broader contexts of practice. The results suggest that counselling psychologists are putting the relationship with the client at the heart of their work and that they draw upon a subjectively meaningful integration of theories to formulate their client’s difficulties. Furthermore, where practitioners are required to use CBT, this is done in a way that prioritises the relational core of practice as well as incorporates the insights to be gained from other theories. The ability of pressures stemming from the priorities of contemporary institutional contexts to modify participants’ relationships with theory is illustrated. Given the significant pressures being generated by evolving contexts of practice, conclusions centre upon the importance of maintaining the disciplinary articulation of the principles of a counselling psychology approach to practice in order to fully support practitioners in their clinical endeavours.

This study is placed within a changing historical, social and clinical context. In recent times the psychological profession has moved towards an affirming and positive understanding of transgender people (Raj, 2002). Theories which argue transgender identities are to be nurtured and valued have emerged (Lev, 2004). The psychological profession has responded with the creation of guidelines which urge practitioners to adopt an affirmative approach to the individual’s experience of gender (British Psychological Society, 2012; World Professional Association for Transgender Health, 2012). Despite an increase in availability of specific training (Pink Therapy, 2012) and a movement towards affirmative therapies the phenomenological experience of transgender people in talking therapies has received little research attention. Bess and Stab (2009) looked at how transsexual clients in therapy interpreted the relationship they had with the practitioner. They found that the participants were enjoying supportive and affirmative relationships with the practitioner, although many reported previous negative therapeutic experiences. However, understanding the experience of transgender clients in therapy from a phenomenological stance has received little academic attention. The present study fills this shortfall and looks at how being in therapy is experienced by transgender people in the UK. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al, 2009) revealed four dominant themes of the experiences of six transgender adults who had attended a talking therapy. These are ‘a fearful time’, ‘becoming comfortable with their personal gender’, ‘the importance of the relationship with the practitioner’ and a sense of ‘moving beyond therapy’. Themes are discussed in the light of the literature creating valuable understandings for counselling psychologists and other therapeutic practitioners working with transgender clients. The implications of these findings on psychological theory, therapeutic practice and policy making are discussed and recommendations are made for future research.

This study contributes to the limited but growing body of research on bilingual clinical practice among British counselling psychologists (Stevens & Holland, 2008; Georgiadou, 2013). It gives voice to a small group of people who practise counselling psychology in English as a foreign language and belong to the known 4.1% of trainee counselling psychologists currently registered with the BPS who can work in what for them is a foreign language. Using IPA to explore the experiences of six bilingual trainee counselling psychologists who practise in English in the UK, it focuses on the process of verbal communication that trainees engage in with their clients. Three super-ordinate themes emerge from analysis of participants’ narratives. The first, Unavoidable Self-Disclosure, addresses the inter-relational revealing of oneself to the other, often accompanied by feelings of shame. Effortful Internal Supervision, the second theme, explores trainees’ internal censorship of the therapeutic interaction, including their commute between languages. Thirdly, Struggle and Transformation encompasses the dynamic process by which language difficulties are coped with, and the links between this and the development of professional confidence. The research is significant in several respects. It gives voice to previously unreported experiences, using a qualitative research paradigm and methodology to probe an area previously reported mainly through clinical vignettes. Its utilisation of IPA suggests another possible application of this psychological method. Its findings, which suggest that the cross-linguistic practice of counselling psychology can be experienced as demanding, problematic yet also rewarding, having important implications for such areas as training and supervision. Significantly for health care professionals working with bilinguals, most trainees interviewed experience some degree of distance from their clients (and from themselves) when practising in English, engage reflexivity continuously as they seek to improve their communication, and ultimately find English an inseparable element of a transformed professional identity.

Aim: The aim of this study is to capture, describe and explore the Counselling Psychologist’s experience of perceived failure related to their therapeutic work setting. Method: Six working counselling psychologists were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Interview transcripts were analysed using the qualitative methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Four main themes emerged: The meaning of failure is subjective, impact of perceived failure, therapeutic use of perceived failure and learning from perceived failure. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that what constitutes a perceived failure is based on counselling psychologists internally evaluating their impact on therapeutic encounters. Most importantly, counselling psychologists should be willing and open to admitting their own failures, and make positive associations. The experience of perceived failure is valuable for professional and personal growth, it is crucial throughout the career of a counselling psychologist; you need to fail if you are to learn and avoid failure in the future.

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them." Nicolo Machiavelli, 1515¹ Coaching is not new, although over the past decade its popularity has been fuelled by organisational trends which have demanded that leaders learn faster to retain competitive advantage. This rise in demand for coaching has raised questions about the quality of supply, and is driving the establishment of rigorous professional standards for the coaching industry. This exploratory study is concerned with making explicit the 'reality' of developing professional coaching practice. It takes a critical stance towards formal education as an approach to develop and sustain professional coaching practice. The specific intention was to consider the impact of the i-coach academy masters' programme on developing professional practice, with a view to enhancing the programme and ensuring congruence with participants' needs. The basic theoretical position lies within the field of Phenomenology, which sets out to obtain knowledge about how we think and feel in the most direct ways; it attempts to 'bracket' assumptions we have about things in order to grasp them in their most essential nature. The project report documents the phenomenological research I undertook with i-coach academy participants in South Africa and the UK from 2002 - 2005. One of the principle intentions was tounderstand their experience of developing professional practice, separate from the construct of formal education. Equally there was an aim to develop increased clarity about the activities considered most helpful to developing and sustaining professional coaching practice. The results of this research were used in combination with other materials to enhance the i-coach masters' programme. An educational framework for developing and sustaining professional coaching practice has been documented. The research also points the way to areas for further inquiry and development, which are outlined in the closing chapters. The experience of the journey to establish a formal framework for the education of professional coaching is reflected well in Machiavelli's quote above. Whilst progress has been made toward establishing a foundation for educating professional coaches, it is also acknowledged that the learning cycles are continuous and the journey is never complete. 1 Extract from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, Written c. 1505, published 1515, Translated by W. K. Marriott Page.