The overall purpose of the study was to generate an increased understanding of clinical superviso... more The overall purpose of the study was to generate an increased understanding of clinical supervisors' (those supervising mental health clinicians) experiences of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue and to obtain their views on how these affect their supervisory and clinical practice. Further, our purpose was to develop recommendations for enhancing the relationships between clinical supervisors and the mental health clinicians they supervise. This study used a hermeneutic phenomenological (HP) approach. HP is well established as a language-based methodology that allows for meaning generation through qualitative interviews (Moules et al., 2015). We conducted in-depth interviews with nine clinical supervisors in the mental health field. We transcribed these interviews verbatim and analyzed them for underlying meaning using HP. We used research team reflexive practices as well as follow-up participant interviews to ensure trustworthiness. One of the key findings was that clinical supervisors felt more satisfied (and by extension less fatigued) in their roles when they had the opportunity to mentor less experienced mental health clinicians. They highlighted the joy that this brought them and how it allowed them to navigate the demands of complex systems where cutbacks were the norm. Mentoring junior clinicians was a way to encourage clinician development and to enhance the supervisory alliance. This study adds to our knowledge about clinical supervision relationships via the supervisory alliance, the developmental relationship between supervisors and therapist supervisees. There is an abundance of research on the perspectives of therapists, but we do not know much about how supervisors experience this supervisory alliance. This study also adds to the literature on clinical supervision by explicating how mentorship can affect supervisees as well as clients by extension through parallel processes (Tracey et al., 2012).
This phenomenological study focused on how counselors experienced instances of intuition in their... more This phenomenological study focused on how counselors experienced instances of intuition in their practice. Four counseling psychologists were interviewed about their intuitive experiences and four main themes emerged. The findings are discussed along with ethical and humanistic considerations regarding counselors accessing and using intuition.
K E Y W O R D S client attunement, counseling, ethics, intuition, phenomenology
International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 2017
In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed ... more In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed in focus groups, in a multicultural community. We compared these urban-student findings for an emergent fit with previously reported findings from more homogeneous groups of rural students. The unifying category, <em>wrestling with gender expectations</em>, which was identified in the rural studies, also emerged in the present study. A new unifying category represented urban participants’ <em>balancing cultural expectations</em> in the contexts of their families and social groups. Three categories from the former rural studies emerged in the present urban study: <em>making sacrifices</em>, <em>showing respect</em>, and <em>standing up for oneself</em>; and a new category emerged: <em>communicating</em>. While the rural students identified <em>media</em> as critical contextual conditions for romantic relat...
Adolescent romande relationships have long been regarded as integral to the healthy development o... more Adolescent romande relationships have long been regarded as integral to the healthy development of the self and the ability to form adult intimate relationships (Erikson, 1968; Sullivan, 1953). More recently, studies have focused on the effects of family and peer influences on the quality of adolescent romantic relationships (Kinsfogel & Grych, 2004; Roisman, Booth-LaForce, Cauffman, & Spieker, 2009; Seiffge-Krenke, Overbeek, & Vermulst, 2010). Most apposite to the present study, however, gender differences in dating experiences, attitudes, and values of youth themselves have generated increasing attention (Giordano, Longmore, & Manning, 2006; Giordano, Manning, & Longmore, 2010; Smiler, 2008). A large questionnaire survey of Canadian rural adolescents (Cameron et al., 2007) reported a significant divergence between boys' and girls' reported attitudes and behaviours in intimate relationships and boys' lack of confidence in their perception of their own and others' co...
Since its introduction in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has ... more Since its introduction in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has gained a solid body of evidence for its efficacious use in treating trauma and its effects. The process of divorce is likely to activate what is known as “small t” trauma reactions in each individual of the couple. “Small t” traumas are responses to common life difficulties such as divorce or unemployment, and usually bring out irrational cognitions and inadequate ability to cope with certain events. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in investigating how EMDR therapy may be used for these more common traumas that can have a strong impact on individuals and couples. In particular, this article outlines the use of EMDR with an expository case of a couple considering divorce after an affair. The article presents research support for EMDR as a psychotherapy model for both “capital T” and “small t” traumas. The expository case is considered, and clinical decision-making from an EMDR-...
Over the past 30 years, the field of counselling psychology has experienced many new insights and... more Over the past 30 years, the field of counselling psychology has experienced many new insights and shifting practices into counsellor education, practitioner and faculty scholarship, and larger systems including post-secondary institutions, accreditation councils, and regulatory bodies. One of the central contributions to this expanding landscape is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). In this introduction to the present special issue of Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, the authors outline the trends and developments in SoTL and discuss current applications of SoTL to the field of counselling psychology. They highlight the importance of these applications for moving the field of counselling forward. Each of the four articles within this special issue is described briefly through the lens of its contributions to SoTL within counselling psychology.
The purpose of this study was to outline the processes involved in adolescent girls' responding t... more The purpose of this study was to outline the processes involved in adolescent girls' responding to sexual harassment. Grounded theory methodology was used to generate a theory of these processes. The core category elicited from interviews with ten participants was "learning about the self." Two processes were identified: "learning powerlessness" and "learning agency." These processes represented girls' movement from seeing themselves as "objects" of others' experience to becoming the "subjects" of their own experience. The counselling implications of the theory developed in the study are discussed.
In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed ... more In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed in focus groups, in a multicultural community. We compared these urban-student findings for an emergent fit with previously reported findings from more homogeneous groups of rural students. The unifying category, wrestling with gender expectations, which was identified in the rural studies, also emerged in the present study. A new unifying category represented urban participants' balancing cultural expectations in the contexts of their families and social groups. Three categories from the former rural studies emerged in the present urban study: making sacrifices, showing respect, and standing up for oneself; and a new category emerged: communicating. While the rural students identified media as critical contextual conditions for romantic relationships, the current urban teens identified digital and social media as crucial contextual conditions in dating relationships. Together, these findings suggest the importance of considering cultural and contextual aspects of youths' dating processes for developing a grounded theory that reflects aspects of teens' relational lives. Implications of this emergent theory are explored, and directions for future research are suggested.
Reflective practice can enhance the professional identity development (PID) of graduate students.... more Reflective practice can enhance the professional identity development (PID) of graduate students. Struggling with one's self-awareness and
The overall purpose of the study was to generate an increased understanding of clinical superviso... more The overall purpose of the study was to generate an increased understanding of clinical supervisors' (those supervising mental health clinicians) experiences of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue and to obtain their views on how these affect their supervisory and clinical practice. Further, our purpose was to develop recommendations for enhancing the relationships between clinical supervisors and the mental health clinicians they supervise. This study used a hermeneutic phenomenological (HP) approach. HP is well established as a language-based methodology that allows for meaning generation through qualitative interviews (Moules et al., 2015). We conducted in-depth interviews with nine clinical supervisors in the mental health field. We transcribed these interviews verbatim and analyzed them for underlying meaning using HP. We used research team reflexive practices as well as follow-up participant interviews to ensure trustworthiness. One of the key findings was that clinical supervisors felt more satisfied (and by extension less fatigued) in their roles when they had the opportunity to mentor less experienced mental health clinicians. They highlighted the joy that this brought them and how it allowed them to navigate the demands of complex systems where cutbacks were the norm. Mentoring junior clinicians was a way to encourage clinician development and to enhance the supervisory alliance. This study adds to our knowledge about clinical supervision relationships via the supervisory alliance, the developmental relationship between supervisors and therapist supervisees. There is an abundance of research on the perspectives of therapists, but we do not know much about how supervisors experience this supervisory alliance. This study also adds to the literature on clinical supervision by explicating how mentorship can affect supervisees as well as clients by extension through parallel processes (Tracey et al., 2012).
This phenomenological study focused on how counselors experienced instances of intuition in their... more This phenomenological study focused on how counselors experienced instances of intuition in their practice. Four counseling psychologists were interviewed about their intuitive experiences and four main themes emerged. The findings are discussed along with ethical and humanistic considerations regarding counselors accessing and using intuition.
K E Y W O R D S client attunement, counseling, ethics, intuition, phenomenology
International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 2017
In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed ... more In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed in focus groups, in a multicultural community. We compared these urban-student findings for an emergent fit with previously reported findings from more homogeneous groups of rural students. The unifying category, <em>wrestling with gender expectations</em>, which was identified in the rural studies, also emerged in the present study. A new unifying category represented urban participants’ <em>balancing cultural expectations</em> in the contexts of their families and social groups. Three categories from the former rural studies emerged in the present urban study: <em>making sacrifices</em>, <em>showing respect</em>, and <em>standing up for oneself</em>; and a new category emerged: <em>communicating</em>. While the rural students identified <em>media</em> as critical contextual conditions for romantic relat...
Adolescent romande relationships have long been regarded as integral to the healthy development o... more Adolescent romande relationships have long been regarded as integral to the healthy development of the self and the ability to form adult intimate relationships (Erikson, 1968; Sullivan, 1953). More recently, studies have focused on the effects of family and peer influences on the quality of adolescent romantic relationships (Kinsfogel & Grych, 2004; Roisman, Booth-LaForce, Cauffman, & Spieker, 2009; Seiffge-Krenke, Overbeek, & Vermulst, 2010). Most apposite to the present study, however, gender differences in dating experiences, attitudes, and values of youth themselves have generated increasing attention (Giordano, Longmore, & Manning, 2006; Giordano, Manning, & Longmore, 2010; Smiler, 2008). A large questionnaire survey of Canadian rural adolescents (Cameron et al., 2007) reported a significant divergence between boys' and girls' reported attitudes and behaviours in intimate relationships and boys' lack of confidence in their perception of their own and others' co...
Since its introduction in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has ... more Since its introduction in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has gained a solid body of evidence for its efficacious use in treating trauma and its effects. The process of divorce is likely to activate what is known as “small t” trauma reactions in each individual of the couple. “Small t” traumas are responses to common life difficulties such as divorce or unemployment, and usually bring out irrational cognitions and inadequate ability to cope with certain events. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in investigating how EMDR therapy may be used for these more common traumas that can have a strong impact on individuals and couples. In particular, this article outlines the use of EMDR with an expository case of a couple considering divorce after an affair. The article presents research support for EMDR as a psychotherapy model for both “capital T” and “small t” traumas. The expository case is considered, and clinical decision-making from an EMDR-...
Over the past 30 years, the field of counselling psychology has experienced many new insights and... more Over the past 30 years, the field of counselling psychology has experienced many new insights and shifting practices into counsellor education, practitioner and faculty scholarship, and larger systems including post-secondary institutions, accreditation councils, and regulatory bodies. One of the central contributions to this expanding landscape is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). In this introduction to the present special issue of Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, the authors outline the trends and developments in SoTL and discuss current applications of SoTL to the field of counselling psychology. They highlight the importance of these applications for moving the field of counselling forward. Each of the four articles within this special issue is described briefly through the lens of its contributions to SoTL within counselling psychology.
The purpose of this study was to outline the processes involved in adolescent girls' responding t... more The purpose of this study was to outline the processes involved in adolescent girls' responding to sexual harassment. Grounded theory methodology was used to generate a theory of these processes. The core category elicited from interviews with ten participants was "learning about the self." Two processes were identified: "learning powerlessness" and "learning agency." These processes represented girls' movement from seeing themselves as "objects" of others' experience to becoming the "subjects" of their own experience. The counselling implications of the theory developed in the study are discussed.
In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed ... more In this study we examined the negotiation of romantic relationships by urban youth, as discussed in focus groups, in a multicultural community. We compared these urban-student findings for an emergent fit with previously reported findings from more homogeneous groups of rural students. The unifying category, wrestling with gender expectations, which was identified in the rural studies, also emerged in the present study. A new unifying category represented urban participants' balancing cultural expectations in the contexts of their families and social groups. Three categories from the former rural studies emerged in the present urban study: making sacrifices, showing respect, and standing up for oneself; and a new category emerged: communicating. While the rural students identified media as critical contextual conditions for romantic relationships, the current urban teens identified digital and social media as crucial contextual conditions in dating relationships. Together, these findings suggest the importance of considering cultural and contextual aspects of youths' dating processes for developing a grounded theory that reflects aspects of teens' relational lives. Implications of this emergent theory are explored, and directions for future research are suggested.
Reflective practice can enhance the professional identity development (PID) of graduate students.... more Reflective practice can enhance the professional identity development (PID) of graduate students. Struggling with one's self-awareness and
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K E Y W O R D S client attunement, counseling, ethics, intuition, phenomenology
K E Y W O R D S client attunement, counseling, ethics, intuition, phenomenology