ERIC Number: EJ909345
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Feb
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0306-9885
EISSN: N/A
Working with Clients Who Engage in Self-Harming Behaviour: Experiences of a Group of Counsellors
Fox, Claudine
British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, v39 n1 p41-51 Feb 2011
This study aimed to explore the experiences of a group of counsellors regarding working with clients who engage in self-harming behaviour, in order to gain an understanding of what it is like to work with this client group. A series of six individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out, which were then transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Counsellors' experiences were characterised by a number of themes, including the "nature of self-harm," in terms of severity and vividness of description, "stopping self-harm," incorporating social norms and therapeutic outcome, and "organisational issues" around balancing expectations from the agency, managing risk, and the counsellors' own working. Findings suggest that working with clients who self-harm raises significant challenges for counsellors in relation to organisational policy and/or context, the impact that working with this client group may have on the therapist themselves, while the issue of stopping self-harm, and how this might be communicated to the client, raises implications for the therapeutic relationship. Here, the supervisory relationship may offer an invaluable resource. (Contains 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Self Destructive Behavior, Counselor Client Relationship, Qualitative Research, Counselors, Work Experience, Counselor Attitudes, Behavior Standards, Social Behavior, Clinical Diagnosis, Outcomes of Treatment, Employer Employee Relationship, Risk Management, Quality of Working Life, Psychotherapy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Counselors
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A