Background and Literature: Technology is slowly but surely finding its way into the therapy room. As such, it is moving from the position of being used to aid therapy, such keeping notes on a computer, to being used to facilitate therapy such as online counselling. The sub-type of online counselling known as internet relay chat is a form of counselling that relies solely upon text alone; having no visual or audial cues to aid the therapy and is what this study focuses on. The therapeutic use of self is a difficult concept to define even 55 years after being first introduced. It is a concept that pervades all therapeutic approaches in some way and can be referred to as the planned use of personality, insights, perceptions, and judgments as part of the therapeutic process. It is therefore an important part of therapeutic work with five types of use of self being identified in the literature: use of personality, use of belief system, use of relational dynamics, use of anxiety and use of self-disclosure. However, prior to completing this study it was unknown as to how this core skill could be translated to internet relay chat. Methodology: Eight participants provided transcripts from 20-minute long internet relay simulated counselling sessions. These sessions were part of a training exercise with participants being students from the University of Manchester who were practising online counselling with each other. This study was a mixed-methods study following an explanatory sequential design. The first quantitative stage was a directed content analysis that coded the transcripts for therapeutic uses of self. The second stage was a qualitative grounded theory analysis that analysed semi-structured interviews that looked at the reasons behind why the uses of self from the first stage were used and their perceived impact. Findings: The directed content analysis found that therapeutic uses of self could indeed be translated within this medium with 53 occurrences of self-disclosure, 45 uses of relational dynamics and 15 uses of personality. There were no examples of use of belief system or use of anxiety within this study. The grounded theory analysis resulted in 463 open codes, which were organised under the core category of therapeutic use of self online. This was succeeded by 7 axial codes which were, Conducting Research, Context of Internet Relay chat, Impact of Using Uses of Self, Patterns of Behaviour, Reasons for Using Uses of Self or Not, Therapeutic Use of Self and Impact of Training Exercise. Discussion and Conclusions: The use of self differed from the way it is reported to be used in the participant's face-to-face work and the compensatory techniques used proved similar to those found in the existing literature. It is recommended that that this is a useful exercise for trainee counselling psychologists to undertake as part of their training. This holds value as not all participants knew what a therapeutic use of self was, despite their importance within therapy. It is also beneficial due to the shift in communication we as a society are experiencing.

Background: The last few decades have seen neuroscience rapidly progress as a discipline. Development of research techniques such as neuroimaging have been utilised to increase an understanding of our species. Counselling psychologists are trained to combine the world of humanistic and phenomenological philosophies with an ability to understand and undertake psychological research, leading to interventions which are theoretically and subjectively informed. This work is undertaken through the reflexive and scientist-practitioner models which underpin the identity of the discipline. As such, counselling psychologists would seem ideally placed to integrate neuroscience into their work, utilising their reflective and scientist practitioner identities to both utilise and add to neuroscience research, helping to increase the understanding and efficacy of interventions for our species' mental health. However, it appears to be unknown as to whether this is something that counselling psychologists want, particularly in the UK. Aims and Method: The aim of this research was to explore UK based counselling psychologists' views and experiences of integrating neuroscience into their work. An interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was undertaken. Six participants were recruited into three different groups of interest/understanding in integrating neuroscience into counselling psychology. One hour semi-structured interviews were carried out with each participant to explore their views and experiences relating to the paradigm. Findings and Discussion: Six master themes emerged from the analysis; 'The Dangers of neuroscience', 'Defining neuroscience', 'There are ways that neuroscience can help us', 'Methods of learning and the need for training', 'Integration: The opposition and the need - finding the balance', and 'My practitioner identity'. The themes presented various advantages, dangers and challenges to integration, some of which aligned with existing literature and some of which presented new thoughts and feelings on the paradigm. Conclusion: The six master themes highlighted that participants indicated an overall view that UK counselling psychologists are currently integrating neuroscience into their work, utilising neuroscience theory as a way to develop their understanding of clients, as well as to communicate with clients and multi-disciplinary colleagues. Participants provided a number of experiential advantages of integration and indicated that they want to integrate even more with neuroscience, incorporating neuroscience into doctorate and CPD training, though they acknowledged the importance of balanced integration.

This research aimed to explore the dynamics of counsellors working cross-culturally with diverse clients in the context of counselling international students at Higher Education Institutes. A particular emphasis on exploring challenges of working cross-culturally with such a diverse group and the solutions to meet those challenges was investigated. Current trends in globalisation of education and the increasing numbers of foreign students entering universities create both problems and opportunities for how to meet the needs of this growing student population. Higher risk factors for distress and crisis are present for international students due to having additional pressures of adapting to a novel environment, establishing support networks, and overcoming culture shock in addition to the more common academic and financial stressors of college and university. The methodology of choice is a collective instrumental case study design that operates within a critical theory paradigm to develop an in-depth understanding of how different cases provide insight into working with diverse clients. Five British counsellors and five international students were recruited within the UK using purposeful convenience sampling through adverts and the professional networks of the researcher. Counsellors were interviewed within a single focus group and international students were interviewed individually in order to understand the researched phenomenon from both counsellor and client perspectives. Thematic Analysis was chosen to generate two separate streams of themes from both counsellor and international student groups in relation to identified challenges and solutions of working together. A second level of overarching themes was produced from comparing and contrasting responses across all participants. The findings highlight a rich heterogeneity within both groups of participants, showcasing the perspectives on both sides of the therapeutic encounter. Counsellors and students held similar and different perspectives on what they identified as challenges of working together -counsellors' vocalised a higher number of relational challenges and students' identified greater institutional barriers. Novice international students experienced increased challenges compared with seasoned international students suggesting that development of risk factors within this sub-group is a high priority to take into consideration when addressing international student needs. Viewing diversity as a positive resource was a shared solution discussed in both participant groups that relied on counsellors demonstrating liberal value systems. Both groups identified the need for institutional support to be increased with students requesting a more proactive community outreach. A dominant finding in terms of recommendations for working with diversity included the use of the pluralistic approach noting that there is no one right answer or model to work with diversity within people and that flexibility to adapt to each client was essential. The findings are not presented as definitive generalisable truths due to the small sample size, but provide contribution to a case-based understanding of how to provide support for diverse groups of students within Higher Education Institutions in order to reduce risk and increase well-being among the international student population.

A qualitative study was carried out with 10 qualified counselling psychologists to explore their perceptions regarding the influence of their early family experiences on their practice. The method employed was grounded theory using data gathered from semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the participants' accounts suggested that early family experiences provided a strong motivation to enter the field of counselling psychology, in order to make sense out of early difficult experiences and utilise early learned skills. Additionally, participants percieved their early experiences to have both a positive and negative influence on their therapeutic competency and practice. The experience of working through and coping with personal struggles enhanced their empathic, relexive abilities and emotional resilience in staying with their clients' difficulties. However, early experiences presented a challenge for the particpants in their ability to facilitate their clients' therapeutic process. These challenges were triggered when re-living earlier experiences in the therapeutic encounter. Early family and later experiences also appeared to influence the participants' developing professional identity, in providing inclinations of working with certain client groups, settings, and therapeutic modalities. In the process of developing their professional identity, participants were in search of authenticity by utilising the theories and therapeutic stance that fits with who they are internally. The participants also emphasised the importance of personal therapy, in terms of dealing with personal issues, increasing self-awareness, modelling their own practice and cultivating therapeutic skills. Personal therapy has been found to have a positive influence on therapeutic practice. A constructed theoretical framework is also presented offering an understanding of the main psychological process identified : "counselling psychologists' self-formation : entering a process of ongoing transformation". The implications of these findings for the relational practice of counselling psychology are discussed.

This study explores the phenomenon of therapists’ verbal self-disclosure in the therapeutic encounter. The purpose is to examine the clients’ experiences and attitudes on therapists’ verbal self-disclosure, when the clients are counselling psychology trainees or newly qualified counselling psychologists. The present study will attempt to discover what the participants believe constitutes self-disclosure and how influential their therapists’ verbal self-disclosure or lack of it, has been in the development of their personal and professional stance on self-disclosure in their own work with clients. Since the researcher is interested in clients who themselves are developing counselling psychologists, the study sheds light on how their therapists’ verbal disclosure (or lack of it) influences their developing professional identity. The majority of studies exploring therapists’ self-disclosure have favoured quantitative methodologies; however, a case can be made for using a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore this phenomenon on the grounds that it provides a more detailed representation of the experience and allows for an in-depth phenomenological understanding of the complexity and content of self-disclosure. Nine developing counselling psychologists were interviewed for this study and the three major findings of the study are that a) developing counselling psychologists, influenced by their own personal therapy, do engage in counter-transference self-disclosure, b) the decision to engage in self-disclosure or not is made upon their intuition and ‘gut feeling’ and c) although training institutions or supervisors might not encourage self-disclosure, participants still engage in it. These findings raise questions concerning the role of training versus the role of personal therapy in shaping trainees’ client work, as well as issues regarding the reasons why they chose to self-disclose or not and the role of intuition.

This research aimed to provide an understanding into the experiences of counselling and clinical doctoral training on trainees and their partners. It was hoped that this would increase understanding would provide support for couples impacted by the doctoral programmes in managing the changes induced and maintaining relationship satisfaction. A mixed methods design was chosen to provide an empirical view of stress, dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction of trainees. It adopted a survey design and an analysis of the processes trainees and partners experience throughout the course as a couple through using a Grounded Theory approach. In total 50 trainees in clinical and counselling psychology took part in the survey study that measured perceived stress, dyadic coping and their relationship satisfaction. Data was analysed using regression analysis to explore relationships between the three constructs. The analysis revealed similarities between clinical and counselling trainees in terms of perceived stress, coping and relationship satisfaction. Regression analysis suggested trainees’ relationship satisfaction was predicted by number of children, communication of stress, length of relationship and length of time cohabiting. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with counselling doctoral trainees and partners. The interviews were transcribed and analysed in accordance with a constructivist version of grounded theory as developed by Charmaz (2006). The grounded theory study revealed a central storyline of 'a journey towards the light at the end of the tunnel' with the social process of striving for equilibrium. This referred to the journey participants experienced whilst the trainee was on the course and highlighted a process as trainees and partners moved through as they developed and adapted to their new lives. The idea of the course being temporary was a thread through the model as participants worked through the stresses whilst focusing on the finishing line at the end of the course. Conflicts arose with participants with children who appeared to undergo a strengthened version of the model. This research provided implications for further specialised support for trainees and partners undergoing the doctoral programmes. It hoped to highlight the difficulties and strengths couples endure on the programme and provides implications for universities and personal therapists to offer systemic support for couples to manage the processes together, making the adjustment process more seamless and meaningful to the couple.

Background and aims: Existing literature indicates how the organisation and comprehension of early life is often discourse-based due to the attribution of meaning to people, objects and contexts through verbal communication. In this way our perceptions of the world and relationships are highly contextualised and contingent. The complexity of human experience suggests a dilemma for studies that seek to explain it through quantification, distinction and difference. This is even more poignant for research on adolescent counselling which addresses contexts in which there are numerous levels of personal change. For this reason it was the aim of this research to explore how discourses construct adult-adolescent communication in therapy to gain a deeper knowledge of interactive processes in action. The focus was on personal, social and therapeutic aspects of communication as well as how the therapeutic relationship may be influenced by social understandings of adolescence and adulthood. Methodology and analysis: As the primary means of communication, language is the predominant medium through which meanings and understandings are negotiated and shared. A discourse analysis was thus selected to explore how discourses function and perform in therapy. The research transcript comprised a case study of seven, sixty-minute counselling sessions between a 49-year old female trainee counselling psychologist and a 17-year old female adolescent client. The analysis identified five main interpretative repertoires: ‘Adolescence’; ‘Making sense of adults’, ‘Coping with Parents’; ‘Adult-adolescent communication during therapy’ and ‘Professional communication during therapy’. These repertoires situate therapy in the personal and social contexts of experience that give it relevance, purpose and meaning. They also focus on how communication manifests therapeutically with regard to interactions, interventions and thus the relationship itself. Discussion and conclusion: This research offers renewed awareness of what it means to experience adolescence. The discourses construct many experiences of difference and conflict as well as similarity and togetherness in ways that are not specific to particular age groups or based on socially constructed understandings. The repertoires indicate that each person possesses a child, adolescent and adult throughout life and that the interchange between these positions is highly fluid and dynamic. Through its flexibility and responsiveness, pluralistic counselling psychology appears well adapted to adolescent clients due to its capacity to embrace, hold and support different levels of change (personal, adolescent and therapeutic). Through acceptance, empathy and trust the therapeutic relationship appears to create an experience of stability and consistency that many adolescents require to safely explore and communicate their personal difficulties.

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]

Aims and Rationale: The present study aims to enrich understanding of the professional identity of counselling psychology in the UK by exploring both the individual professional identities of counselling psychologists and the broader identity of the profession as a whole. This will elaborate on the existing literature base and allow the researcher to gather a breadth of perspectives of counselling psychology identity whilst also exploring the issues surrounding the identity development of practitioners in greater depth. Method: The study adopts a triangulation mixed methods design to explore the professional identity of counselling psychologists (Cresswell, Plano Clark, Guttman & Hanson, 2003). An exploratory online survey was designed to explore 1) the training, employment and practice characteristics of counselling psychologists and 2) their perception of the role, contribution and future identity of the profession. Concurrent with this data collection, qualitative interviews were conducted which aimed to explore the participants’ experience of training and working as a counselling psychologist, and develop an understanding of factors that have impacted upon their individual professional identity. Results: Both data sources contribute to the conception of counselling psychology as a diverse and multi-faceted profession. ‘Unity within diversity’ has been proposed as an overarching theme that marries the data sources and highlights the different ways in which counselling psychologists experience and articulate their individual professional identity, and the collective identity of the profession. Conclusions: The findings reveal there is no single professional identity inherent within counselling psychology. Multiple professional identities exist and are shaped by a range of factors. Uniting these diverse identities is a central commitment to a humanistic philosophy and value base. This provides a foundation on which therapeutic decision making is made and clients’ difficulties conceptualised. Whilst counselling psychology’s interest in identity and critical self-reflection has been questioned, this process may allow the profession to remain alert to the changing professional climate and adapt their practice to ensure that they remain valuable and are not overlooked within the field of therapeutic provision.

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