Return to search

Becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor : an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study

This study embarked on exploring the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor from a psychological perspective. Six participants were interviewed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research method. Race and gender are divided equally amongst Black, Caucasian, male, and female participants. Numerous dimensions relating to the lived experience of lay volunteer counsellors are investigated in the present literature, suggesting that the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor is multifaceted. The subjective experience of each of the participants was explored, with the optimism that this exploration would expound on the multilateralism of these facets. Although specific experiences remain exclusive to each participant, the intersecting and co-creation of meanings culminated in the cultivation of themes common to the participants. These themes are examined against the literature, critically appraising supportive and distinct suggestions. As is evident from the results, participants have a profound appreciation of the stimuli which influence their experiences of lay volunteer counselling, but also of the circumstances surrounding the origins of their sense of volunteerism. Even though some of the literature addressed themes relevant to the participants’ experiences, a small number of themes could not be juxtaposed against available literature. Based on the narratives of the participants, as well as data in the literature, volunteers constitute a reasonable component of the service sector and assist a sizeable population. Therefore, the value of the lay volunteer counselling population should be recognised in order to develop further training and support programmes for this subpopulation. As it appears, recognising the essence of this value begins with appreciating the experience of becoming and being a lay volunteer counsellor. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Psychology / unrestricted

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/26469
Date01 February 2010
CreatorsHassim, Junaid
ContributorsPrinsloo, A. (Adri), junaidh@telkomsa.net
PublisherUniversity of Pretoria
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Rights© 2009, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.

Page generated in 0.0022 seconds