This is my MA Psychotherapy Research Day Presentation at Leeds Beckett University.
My project was an Interpretative Phenomenological Study (IPA) of counsellor’s experiences of working with bereaved clients who want to talk about an of End-of-Life phenomena experience they may have had, such as a death bed coincidence or after death communication with a deceased person.
In this presentation, I cover how the research question evolved; an overview of End-of-Life phenomenon; the study methodology, data collection and recruitment methods used; the superordinate and subordinate themes from the phenomenological analysis; and implications for counsellors.
The abstract for the study is:
- Title: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study of counsellors’ experiences of working with bereaved clients’ experiences of End-of-Life (EOL) Phenomena.
- Objective: Research literature has highlighted End-of-Life phenomena (sometimes called ‘anomalous phenomena’) occurring at the end of life, and counselling professionals can feel ill-prepared to work with clients who disclose having experienced such phenomena. The aim of this study was to provide an insight into the counsellor’s experience of working with clients who have disclosed experiencing EOL phenomena so that we are better informed about how counsellors respond to and are affected by such clients.
- Design: A qualitative approach was taken involving semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to identify themes within transcripts.
- Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four BACP registered counsellors who had discussed at least one EOL Phenomena experience with a client.
- Results: Three main themes emerged from the IPA analysis: (1) ‘I’m not sure how you could teach it’: counsellor training and support in EOL Phenomena; (2) ‘I have become more open minded, but within reason’: the transformational effect of hearing clients’ EOL Phenomena experiences; and (3) ‘When we discuss it further, clients open up’: working with EOL Phenomena experiences in counselling practice.
- Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of counsellors having an awareness of EOL Phenomena. Counsellors should remain open-minded towards discussing EOL Phenomena experiences if bereaved clients disclose them as it can help clients make meaning from the experience, which in turn will support them with their grieving process. Hearing about and working with EOL Phenomena experiences can have a positive transformative effect on the counsellor.
