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The lived experience of novice counsellors: a qualitative phenomenological approach

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experience of novice counsellors. Specifically, this study sought to determine what common experiences aid development and/or detract from a counsellor’s self-identity. It identifies how a counsellor is shaped by their experience and training. As well, it establishes the significance of understanding the impact of personal experiences on a counsellor’s professional development and isolates the needs of the developing counsellor as expressed by the participants themselves.
Together, the lived experiences of all participants shared four common themes: anchoring, uncertainty, knowledge seeking and self-awareness. These four themes frame the over-arching phenomenon that describes the collective experience of the novice counsellor - transition. The significant feature or essence of transition is accepting and acknowledging on-going learning and change. The conclusions of this study promote discourse on the training experience of counsellors in the hope of modifying counsellor training programs.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:MWU.1993/22231
Date02 October 2013
CreatorsKirupakaran, Cyndi Sanjana
ContributorsMani, Priya (Education), Senehi, Jessica (Peace and Conflict Studies) Woodgate, Roberta (Nursing)
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Detected LanguageEnglish

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