Wounded Healer Research Alison Barr Part 2 of 2 by Imran Manzoor

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Extent to which Psychological Wounds inspire Counsellors and psychotherapists to become Wounded Healers The Collins Dictionary (2006) defines „wounded‟ in many ways including to have one‟s “feelings … damaged”. „Healer‟ is the noun of „heal‟, which is “to restore to health”. Therefore, in mental health, the wounded healer restores to psychological health the person who has had their feelings or emotions damaged. This expression is widely recognised, with the meaning usually taken further to declare that the experience of being wounded causes the desire to heal (e.g. Jenson 2006). This is discussed further in the literature review.

For the purpose of this study the wounded healer is a concept relating to counsellors and psychotherapists („healers‟) who have been „psychologically wounded‟ in some way, where, to some extent, the wounds lead to career choice. In this instance the definition of a „psychological wound‟ is, „the effect of one or more traumatic events that had significant emotional impact on you‟. This definition was created by the researcher in consultation with the research supervisor. It was vital that the definition was clear to the respondents, and was inclusive of all experiences considered significant by the respondents.

My initial interest in the concept of the counsellor or psychotherapist as a wounded healer developed during diploma training. I was acutely aware of the various psychological wounds experienced by my peers throughout their lives and how these wounds led many people directly to counsellor training. I always recognised that my own psychologically wounding experiences had caused my life to take certain paths and had given me the opportunity to learn more about myself, but I had never before explored the exact nature of the relationship between my wounds and my career choice.

My wounding experience came in the form of cancer at age 22. My treatment consisted of two operations and radiotherapy. This experience left me with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affected me considerably for one year and mildly since. The turning point in my mental health was engaging in counselling for a total of six sessions one year after my second operation. Although there was more therapeutic work to be done in the future, this counselling experience facilitated a significant decrease in my PTSD symptoms.

During the year of my acute PTSD I attended a week long course with a life coach. Engaging in this work I became aware that I was not satisfied with my lifestyle or career. I was in the fortunate position of being able to take voluntary redundancy (which coincided with the end of my counselling journey) and therefore had access to a career counsellor. My experiences with cancer and PTSD had given me a new outlook on life which was that every cloud has a silver lining. I am pleased to say that this outlook is with me to this day and is showing no signs of leaving. I wanted to share my positivity with others and help them through their difficulties. I considered a career as a life coach, and while investigating this I came across literature on a career in counselling. Remembering my own positive experience of counselling and reading about the ethos, this spoke to me in a way that nothing had before. I felt committed from that day to becoming a counsellor, with the possibility of practising life coaching later in life as a parallel to counselling.

Exploring my own wounding experiences, it is clear to me that they played a significant role in my current career as a counsellor and psychotherapist. It is possible that I would have followed this career path regardless, but my feeling is that I would have not. The reason I feel I would not is because my outlook on life and general attitudes before my illness were not consistent with someone working in a therapeutic field.

My own experiences and that of my colleagues, created bias with regard to one of the results I expected from this study. I expected there to be more „wounded healers‟ than „non-wounded healers‟.

1.2 How the Extent to which Psychological Wounds Inspire Counsellors and Psychotherapists to become Wounded Healers varies with Demographic Factors, the significance of the influence of the wound on career choice and whether a Particular Type of Wound is more Likely to Lead to becoming a Wounded Healer

Research is often concerned with the differences between the experiences, thoughts and feelings of people from different demographic backgrounds. It is often the case that gender, age, ethnicity, etc influences decisions, feelings and attitudes. For this reason, this research explores the extent to which psychological wounds inspire counsellors and psychotherapists to become wounded healers, varies with demographic factors. The significance of the influence of the wound on career choice and whether a particular type of would is more likely to lead to becoming a wounded healer is also addressed in this section. The hypotheses in this study will use the term „therapist‟ when discussing counsellors and psychotherapists collectively. The „type‟ of wound refers to the possibility that wounds can be direct, indirect or both.

1.2.1 Counsellors, Psychotherapists or Both This study uses the word „designation‟ when discussing whether a person considers themselves to be a counsellor, psychotherapist or both. As there is no official distinction between counselling and psychotherapy in the UK, it is the responsibility of the individual to choose to define themselves as one or both. Some people consider counselling and psychotherapy as describing totally different work, some see there to be an overlap and some see them as identical (Bondi, 2004). Differences are argued in the following areas: o Training – The training involved to become a psychotherapist is often considered to have a longer duration than that required by a counsellor (e.g. four years as opposed to one). Also, although personal development is requirement of students on all BACP accredited counselling training courses,

personal therapy is not. Therefore, it is often considered that therapeutic training with extensive personal therapy as an integral element is automatically psychotherapy training. o Issues addressed – Anti (1995) believes that psychotherapists assist the client to re-organise their personality, while counsellors help people to overcome obstacles in order to facilitate personal growth. This suggests that counselling is focussed on the „here and now‟, and psychotherapy on the past. o Therapeutic contract – Psychotherapy is often considered to involve a long term contract, and counselling a short term one. Psychotherapists are also considered by some to be more likely to see their clients more than once a week, while the counselling standard is weekly (Milton, 2004). o Access to therapeutic services – Currently, counselling is available in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Psychotherapy, with rare exceptions, has not been available in the voluntary sector in the UK (Bondi, 2004). o Transference – It is the opinion of Brammer and Shostrom (1977), that "the counsellor develops a close personal relationship with the client, but he does not encourage or allow strong transference feelings as does the psychotherapist” (p223). They continue to discuss that the counsellor considers transference as interference, while the psychotherapist views it as helpful.

As there is no official difference between counsellors and psychotherapists in the UK, and there is disagreement between therapists in relation to the potential differences, there is no bias affecting related hypotheses. Therefore the null hypothesis is assumed.

Null Hypothesis One – Counsellors and psychotherapists are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. Null Hypothesis Two – Practising counselling, psychotherapy or both bears no relevance to the degree of the extent to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice. Null Hypothesis Three – Practising counselling, psychotherapy or both bears no relevance to whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice.

1.2.2 Approach Morris (1998) states that “orientation is often influenced by life events prior to deciding to become a counsellor” (p1). This opinion is shared by many including Goldberg (1986), Dryden & Spurling (1989), Newman (1993) and Frankham (1994). McConnaughy (1987), McLeod & McLeod (1993), Neimeyer, Prichard, Lyddon & Sherrard (1993) and Finch, Mattson & Moore (1993) all convey that a therapist‟s personality is significant to their choice of orientation. Where a psychologically wounding experience occurs, the person‟s personality will change to some extent, which has been shown repeatedly by the „Posttraumatic Growth Inventory‟. This is „an instrument for assessing positive outcomes reported by persons who have experienced traumatic events‟ (Tedeschi and Calhoun, 1996, p1). This questionnaire asks twenty-one questions in an attempt to discover these outcomes. The outcomes are categorised as new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, spiritual change and appreciation of life‟.

Within each approach, what is the likelihood of being a wounded healer? Are therapists from a particular approach more likely to have one type of wound than another? There is no evidence to suggest that any particular approach is more likely to experience psychological wounding leading to career choice than any other. Therefore the null hypothesis is assumed.

Null Hypothesis Four – Therapists from different approaches are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. Null Hypothesis Five – The degree of the extent to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within approach. Null Hypothesis Six – Therapeutic approach bears no relevance to whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice.

1.2.3 Gender Reporting on the „Posttraumatic Growth Inventory‟, Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) state that „women tend to report more benefits than do men‟ (p1) when they have experienced a traumatic event. This researcher hypothesises that these benefits could lead to entering a therapeutic profession. However, the type of event is not discussed in this paper.

This study researches the relationship that gender has on the likelihood of a wounding experience leading to a career in counselling or psychotherapy, and whether the type of wound experienced is relevant. There is no evidence to suggest that someone of a particular gender is more likely to experience psychological wounding leading to career choice than any other. Therefore the null hypothesis is assumed. Null Hypothesis Seven – Female and male therapists are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. Null Hypothesis Eight – The degree to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within gender.

Null Hypothesis Nine – There is no relationship between gender and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice.

1.2.4 Ethnicity Smith (1987) describes an ethnic group as a human population whose members identify with each other as they share a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. This group are also usually united by common cultural, behavioural, linguistic or religious practices (Wikipedia, 2006). There are many differences in cultures which could affect the liklihood that a psychologically wounding experience could lead or not lead to a career as a counsellor or psychotherpist. For example, it has been shown that in asian cultures, people are more likely to turn to their family in times of crisis, than access professional help. An article in the New York Times (Chan, 2003) discusses the large extent to which Asian Amreicans rejected counselling after the 9/11 attrocities. The couple featured in the article, who lost their son, said that they were “content to have shared their experiences within their circle of family and close friends, where people knew their son” (p28). This lack of assumed need for therapeutic services suggests a potential lack of knowledge of it. If a person knows little of an industry they are less likely to feel drawn to it as a career.

Does ethnicity affect the liklihood of a psychologically wounding experience leading to a career as a counsellor or psychotherpist? Is the type of wound experienced significant? Although the above illustration suggests that people from Asian cultures are not likely to access counselling or psychotherapy services, there is no research to suggest that any particular ethnicity is more likely to experience psychological wounding leading to career choice than any other. Therefore the null hypothesis is assumed. Null Hypothesis Ten – Therapists from different ethnic backgrounds are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice.

Null Hypothesis Eleven – The degree to which psychologically (a) wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within ethnic background. Null Hypothesis Twelve – There is no relationship between ethnic background and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice.

1.2.5 Age when Entered Counselling or Psychotherapy Training Beichman (2001) reports that, as a result of the progress of society and the development of counselling, generational groups may have differing reasons for entering counselling training. He hypothesises that there may be differences “according to one‟s age in itself… childhood issues might be more closely felt by those chronologically nearer to it” (p6). In addition to agreeing with Beichman‟s conjectures, this researcher ponders the hypothesis that the older a person is, the more opportunity there has been for them to experience a psychologically wounding event. Does a person‟s age affect their likelihood of becoming a wounded healer? Does the type of wound have an impact on the age training is commenced? There is no evidence to suggest that a person of any particular age is more likely to experience psychological wounding leading to career choice than any other. Therefore the null hypothesis is assumed. Null Hypothesis Thirteen – Therapists of different ages are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. Null Hypothesis Fourteen – The degree to which psychologically (a) wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within age. Null Hypothesis Fifteen – There is no relationship between age and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice.

1.3 The Significance on Career Choice Having established, from the researcher‟s own experiences, that wounded healers exist in the form of counsellors and psychotherapists, it is logical to explore the extent to which these events influenced career choice. In reality the events will have influenced each individual differently, but can be placed somewhere on the scale from „a small amount‟ to „completely‟. However, there is no evidence to suggest that any particular significance level will be dominant. As this is a descriptive question, a hypothesis is not appropriate.

1.4 The Causes of these Wounds

In addition to the possibility that the way in which the wounds were caused influences the likelihood of becoming a wounded healer (addressed in section 1.2), the research investigates the question „what are these wounds?‟

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Concept of the Wounded Healer

The notion of the wounded healer has existed since the beginnings of Greek mythology, if not before. According to Greek mythology the original wounded healer is „Chiron‟. Chiron was a mythological creature who was physically wounded. By overcoming these wounds, he became a compassionate teacher of healing. In astrology, the formation of Chiron is called „the wounded healer‟, and it is believed that a person‟s wounds can be explored by looking at where Chiron is placed in the birth chart. Probably the most well known wounded healer is Jesus Christ, who is said to have endured pain and suffering so that he could heal others (Crystal, 2006). In modern day, many people are described as „wounded healers‟ as a result of the work that they do, or the way they live their life, and their reasons for doing so. Jenson (2006), Downing (1990), Jackson (2001) and Crystal (2006) discuss the archetypal picture of the person who has undergone a transformation into a healer as a direct result of their wounding experiences. For example, members of alcoholics anonymous help other alcoholics by sharing their own psychologically wounding experiences of alcoholism, ministers often use their own suffering to comfort others and there have been many instances of cancer sufferers creating support groups to help heal the psychological wounds other cancer sufferers.

2.2 Entering a Therapeutic Career as a Result of Wounding Events

It could be argued that counsellors, psychotherapists and other psychological medicine practitioners play a large part in the „wounded healer‟ collective of the twenty-first century. Many have argued that people enter a career as a counsellor or psychotherapist because they have experienced wounding events. Meer (1998) acknowledges that “the notion of people entering the therapy professions because of

their own emotional experience” (p5) is a common concept. Many papers have been written on this topic, all in agreement of this basic fact (e.g. Lomas, 1981; Fussell, 1988; Powers,1992; Sussman, 1992; Corey and Corey, 1993; Day, 1994; Menninger (1957); Lawson, Gaushall, McCune & McCune, 1995; Harris (1975) and Watts, Trusty, Canada & Harvill, 1995). Crystal (2006) considers that modern day therapists empathise with the concept of the wounded healer, using their own life experiences in the facilitation of improving the mental health of their clients. Gage and Goodman (1975) discuss that this pain has a limit, and is not so impactful as to create a defensive personality. Norcross and Guy (in Dryden and Spurling, 1989) report accounts of ten therapist‟s journeys to becoming a „healer‟. They conclude with their belief that many therapists are attracted to therapeutic work because of “their affinity with the healer-patient archetype” (p226).

Although already involved in the therapeutic world at the time, Freud is said to have used the pain caused by the death of his father to further understand the human psyche (Downing, 1990). While exploring himself at this time Freud recognised that there is woundedness in us all. Downing reported that these wounds allowed Freud to “offer sympathy, understanding, courage” (p553). Downing discusses Jung‟s “symbolic death of his symbolic father, by way of his break with Freud” (p553) as his psychologically wounding experience. In his book, „The Psychology of the Transference‟, Jung (1966) emphasises to therapist readers the importance of remembering the wounding experiences that led them to become therapists. He also advises his readers to remain open to further wounding. It is reported that Carl Rogers also believed in the concept of the therapist as a wounded healer. A respondent of this research study recounted in the comments section of the questionnaire a conversation between Rogers and another therapist. Rogers is said to have described therapists as “crippled children”. This concept is taken further by Dunne (2000) who writes in the biography, „Carl Jung: wounded healer of the soul‟, that it is only the doctor who is wounded, who has the ability to heal others. Jung's colleague, Marie Louise Von Franz, is reported to have believed that the wounded healer plays a significant part of all genuine healing

procedures (Levy, 1999). Sussman (1992) agrees with this concept that one has to be wounded to be able to heal, specifically in relation to the ability to be empathic and compassionate.

Adler (1972), Deutsch (1984 and 1985), Groesbeck & Taylor (1977) and Scott & Hawk (1986) all believe that therapists are psychologically wounded people who enter their occupations in order to heal these wounds.

2.3. Childhood Experiences as an Influence on Entering a Therapeutic Career

Empirical research suggests that childhood experiences (though not necessarily wounding ones) can play an important part in people‟s decisions to train to be therapists. Roe‟s (1957) original work pointed towards a warm and caring childhood environment as resulting in a career in psychotherapy, and a cold and rejecting environment resulting in non-person related careers. This model was widely criticised by many researchers (e.g. Harris, 1975; Marlow, 1985; Racusin, Abramowitz and Winter, 1981 and Goldberg, 1986), who considered Roe to have the hypothesis the wrong way round. Roe and Seigleman (1963) later amend this hypothesis to state that adults who have experienced childhoods which met “needs which are congruent with the demands of the parents”, are likely to enter a career with an “orientation towards persons” (Fussell 1988, p17). They continue to hypothesise that a child who experiences an accepting environment may have an interest in any type of career. Meer‟s (1998) study researching how trainee student counsellors‟ childhood experiences influenced their decision to train, reports that five out of seven interviewees considered their childhood experiences to be influential. She writes, “the … students who felt strongly that their childhood experiences had influenced their decision to train had given consideration to this idea for some time before. … (they) felt their experiences were inextricably linked to their choice of work” (p31). Meer, herself, reports to have been strongly influenced to a career as a counsellor by

her childhood experiences, and reports noticing that many of her colleagues also consider this as important. She writes, “I believe this … upbringing … predisposed me towards the congruence and empathy that accompanies humanistic counselling. … that my colleagues had as equally compelling and extraordinary histories became more apparent” (p17).

Sussman (1992) also wrote about how childhood experiences can influence a career as a therapist. He discusses his belief that the psychological wounds which develop as a result of a childhood filled with conflict and pain, contribute to a desire and ability, to „cure‟ others. Fussell‟s (1988) research investigated the childhoods of psychotherapists and physicists, and found those of the psychotherapists to be considered more negatively. This negative recollection suggests the presence of psychologically wounding experiences. Norcross and Guy (in Dryden and Spurling, 1989) found that the majority of the therapists referred to early personal vulnerabilities, which pushed them towards their career choice.

Clarkson (1997) and Goldberg (1986) also agree with the concept of childhood as often being significant in predisposing a career as a therapist. Goldberg considers that the majority of people who enter „healing‟ professions have experiences of family life as a child where serious problems were present. He also hypothesises that people are drawn to careers which meet their needs. In this instance, the career of a „healer‟ is entered to meet the need of the psychologically wounding experience of the child within. Beichman‟s (2001) quantitative research study investigating how counsellors perceive different factors to have been significant in influencing their career choice produced very interesting results. Beichman reports fourteen main reasons for entering counselling as a career, of which seven suggest psychological wounding. These are (in order of significance), to use your life‟s experience for the benefit of others, to resolve / understand psychological difficulties & / or mental health problems (your own or others), for personal growth, to become more true to yourself, to resolve past / present issues, unusual / difficult childhood experiences, and, to

make internal changes. Beichman also researched the effect that gender, age and approach have on these factors. He found that, where the response „to use your life‟s experience for the benefit of others‟ was selected, the mean female score was significantly higher than the mean male score. The other significant results in relation to demographic factors were unrelated to psychologically wounding experiences.

2.4 Effect of Demographic Factors on Likelihood of Entering a Therapeutic Career as a Result of Wounding Events Morris (1998) considers a person‟s life events as significant in relation to the chosen therapeutic approach of therapists. This opinion is shared by many including Goldberg (1986), Dryden & Spurling (1989), Newman (1993) and Frankham (1994). McConnaughy (1987), McLeod & McLeod (1993), Neimeyer et al (1993) and Finch et al (1993) all convey that a therapist‟s personality is significant to their choice of orientation. If these life events were to include psychological wounding experience(s), it can be assumed that these experiences affect the choice of therapeutic approach. Reporting on the „Posttraumatic Growth Inventory‟, Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) state that „women tend to report more benefits than do men‟ (p1) when they have experienced a traumatic event. This researcher hypothesises that these benefits could lead to entering a therapeutic profession.

There is no literature regarding designation, ethnicity and age.

2.5 Literature Searches

Literature searches were carried out in ISI Web of Knowledge, Omnifile, Strathclyde University library, Strathclyde University Counselling Unit library, the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, Glasgow City Council libraries, e-journals,

e-books, counselling and psychotherapy research journal, journal of guidance and counselling, Google and Wikipedia. The search terms were varied and contained key words, e.g. wounded healer, wounded counsellor, childhood wounding psychotherapist, trauma counsellor profession, age wounded healer, gender wounded healer, etc. No more literature is currently available on the concept of the counsellor or psychotherapist as a wounded healer, the therapistâ&#x20AC;&#x;s wounding experiences, how these vary with demographic factors, or the types of wounds experienced.

3. METHOD

3.1 Introduction The research is described as „pluralistic‟ because more than one approach is used. The initial epistemological and methodological intentions of this study were purely positivistic. The limitations of this pushed the research towards investigating postpositivistic epistemologies. As both positivistic and post-positivistic approaches have strengths and limitations, a pluralistic approach was used. This allows benefit from both while minimising the limitations of using only one. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (positivism), and the qualitative data using thematic analysis, with a grounded theory epistemology (post-positivism).

3.2 Positivism

The positivist epistemological approach of the study is sociological positivism. Positivism within a sociological context is the connecting of sociology and science (Bryant, 1985). Positivist thinking states that “only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge“(Wikipedia, 2006). In other words, only that which can be scientifically proven, can be assumed to be real. Von Wright (1971) and Hacking (1981) have written very clear views on the fundamental aspects of positivism. Positivists believe that there is one science about one universe, which can be broken down into statements. These statements have a logical structure and are consistent. Scientific hypotheses are always testable, which either proves or falsifies them. Thus, metaphysics is rejected as this is not scientifically testable. As science is always evolving, new theories can be tested and can replace old theories as the world changes. This is acceptable because there is a unity of scientific methods throughout all research fields. Positivists also believe that science is independent from the researcher‟s personality and social position. As such, research results can be repeated by any researcher, to the same standard. Von Wright (1972) described positivist

researchers well when he wrote “positivist thinkers are only satisfied by explanaitons that are framed in terms of strict „cause and effect‟ sequences, and reject any explanotory models that employ any notion of „purpose‟.” (p2).

Sociological positivists believe that there is little difference between social sciences and natural sciences. Therefore, counselling and psychotherapy research can be positivist-based. The reason behind this assumption is a result of the parallel process between the laws that govern society and the laws that govern nature (Wikipedia, 2006). These laws are created by „cause and effect‟ relationships, which hold true for everybody and everything in the universe. This research assumes that there are truths which can be discovered through data gathering and statistical modelling.

Kirkpatrick et al (1978) give a critical view of sociological positivism, stating that there is not a direct link between social science and natural science. They argue that this theory states the existence of human beings as static objects, which automatically gives a distorted view. They also argue that nature changes, therefore any forms of positivism are not a true reality. This researcher believes that, as the concept of the wounded healer has been around for thousands of years, and as counselling and psychotherapy are relatively new in comparison to this, the results of this research will hold true for many years to come. As there is no reason to suspect that counsellors and psychotherapists are going to change significantly, this researcher believes that they can be thought of as „static‟. Goss and Mearns (1997) report that “critics of the reductionist school have argued that quantitative results (e.g. from rating scales) can lend a spurious air of accuracy (Oppenheim, 1985) with the numbers being erroneously accepted as facts by others (Smith, 1989).” (p90). David (1994) proposed that in the therapeutic environment, cause and effect relationships can be non-linear. In other words, the same cause can lead to different effects. This „cause‟ is dependent on the variables involved in the research, e.g. the researcher, the research subjects, the relationships, the context, etc. There are a variable number of factors involved, which are different each time research is conducted. David also discussed the dependence and interdependence of

the many parts of the process. He suggested that if one part is considered separately, something is lost because it has been removed from the other parts. This suggests synergy, i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. David concluded that a reductionist approach provides a too simplistic picture, which is not able to fully research therapeutic effectiveness.

This researcher feels that there is an important place for a reductionist approach, when used in a situation which has a limited number of outcomes (e.g. questions 1-5 and 7-10 of the questionnaire connected to this research). The data which is described in its raw form is called descriptive statistics. Data which is modelled in a way that accounts for randomness and uncertainty, and which uses inferences, is called inferential statistics (McLeod, 2003). Statistics are useful to interpret a large data set. When used correctly they accurately describe the data and minimise the opportunity for misinterpretation. As a result of this, this positivist researcher considers data which can be analysed by statistics to be more accurate than that which is open to the interpretation by the researcher. Therefore, where possible, questions which gave statistically analytical answers were used. Hypotheses can be created using the „null hypothesis‟ assumption. This states that there is no phenomenon, and the event can only arise through chance. If a significant difference is shown the null hypothesis has been disproved. This suggests that the event does not happen only by chance (Wikipedia, 2006). McLeod reports that there is controversy over the use of the null hypothesis with some researchers reporting that the significance of the error value is often used incorrectly, misinterpreting the statistical validity of the data. Dar, Serlin and Omer (1994) found that some researchers were using inappropriate error levels when testing for statistical significance. They also found that some researchers used words such as “tendencies” or “approaching significant” (p77), where their results were not statistically significantly different. Therefore, Dar et al considered that in many cases where the null hypothesis was rejected, and significant results claimed, the readers were being misinformed. It is the opinion of the researcher that terms such as „tendency‟ and „trend‟ can be appropriately used by researchers, where it is clearly stated that this

does not imply statistical significance. In regard to appropriate error levels when testing for statistical significance, this researcher is currently satisfied to use the value of 0.05 as it is considered to be appropriate by the designers of SPSS software and by Andy Field (2005).

3.3 Post-Positivism

The post-positivistic epistemological approach of the study is grounded theory and the methodology is thematic analysis. Wikipedia (2006) explains that grounded theory does not begin with a hypothesis, but generates information from the data „ground‟ up rather than top down. It is assumed that the researcher has the ability to recognise the varying importance of the data, without bias, prejudice or assuuptions. Thematic analysis uses abductive reasoning (inductive and deductive), where the most likely explanations are deduced from a set of facts. These facts are researched using qualitative data gathering methodology (usually interviewing, but written script in the case of this research study). The data is coded with specific steps repeated until the codes are finalised, (see section 3.12 for a detailed explanation of these steps).

Thomas and James (in press) feel strongly opposed to grounded theory as a valid research approach. This researcher suggests that the same criticisms can hold for thematic analysis. Firstly, they believe the codes that are deduced from the data are “not … theory in any meaningful sense”. Secondly, they feel the codes can be described more accurately as “invention” than “discovery”. And thirdly, they consider the word „ground‟ as misleading. Thomas and James believe “the significance of interpretation, narrative and reflection can be undermined in the procedures of grounded theory” (p1), which causes the above anomalies. They believe this is a result of the over simplification of the complex data during the coding, putting the importance on the methodology of data analysis rather than the data itself. This suggests that meaningful data could get „lost‟. Although this researcher does not wholly agree with Thomas and James, it is recognised that there is a danger in becoming so blinkered by the methodology, the data analysis suffers.

However, this is not considered to be an issue with this research, as the qualitative data is presented in a factual way and is therefore not open to interpretation. This ensures that the coding is straight forward and the data does not get „lost‟. Beehr & O‟Hara (1987) and Stone (1986) criticise qualitative research because of the lack of rigorous checks of methodology. Control groups are very difficult to successfully utilise and “interpreted self-reported symptoms” (Goss and Mearns 1997, p192) have challenged the credibility of much research. Goss and Mearns go on to discuss that when qualitative researchers interview a small number of people (e.g. 6 - 10) on a particular subject, they are only gathering data on those particular people. This data can not be said to be representative of any specific population, and so is limited in ability to suggest implications for such populations. Two hundred and fifty three counsellors and psychotherapists responded to the questionnaire attached to this research. As this is a very high number and the respondents were from a wide demographic range, this researcher suggests that the results from this study can be assumed to be true across the board.

3.4 Pluralism

Bryman (1984) suggests that the underlying philosophy of both quantitative and qualitative research is comparable, with the differences only in method. He suggests, and this researcher strongly agrees, that the research technique should be determined by the practicalities of the research subject. The majority of research questions can be clearly defined as quantitative or qualitative in nature. To use the wrong method, in either case, would give results of lesser statistical significance, or lesser depth, respectively. In the instance where a question has multiple parts, as is the case in this research, the parts themselves must be considered separately when choosing research methodology. If the parts are not methodologically synonymous with each other, a pluralistic approach is needed. In cases where a question could be answered by either quantitative or qualitative methodology, a pluralistic approach can be used by way of re-confirming the results.

Goss and Mearns (1997) propose “creating a „truce‟ in the war based on strict demarcation of territory” (p189). They suggest that more can be gained by research which accepts the accuracy of both positivistic and post-positivistic research. This pluralistic model, it is proposed, “will be more fully equipped to evaluate the human process of counselling.” It is this researcher‟s belief that, to be able to move forward with counselling and psychotherapy research, researchers must acknowledge the positive and negative aspects of both methodologies, and consider a pluralistic approach as a realistic possibility.

Furthermore, all research in the counselling and psychotherapy fields should be treated as a guide rather than an exact science. As discussed, at this time all methodologies have discrepancies, which are seemingly impossible to overcome, and therefore can not be fully trusted.

3.5 Questionnaire versus Interview

The research question can be divided into 4 parts as follows:

1. Understanding the extent to which counsellors and psychotherapists believe psychologically wounding experiences led to their career choice and how this varies with demographic factors. 2. Understanding the significance of these wounds on career choice and how this varies with demographic factors. 3. Understanding the causes of these wounds, quantitatively, and how this varies with demographic factors. 4. Understanding the causes of these wounds qualitatively.

Primarily the study was concerned with questions 1, 2 and 3 with question 4 secondary. As questions 1, 2 and 3 are quantitative a large number of responses were

needed to ensure statistical validity. This is the main reason a questionnaire was preferential to interviews. Other reasons are as follows: o Participant anonymity is more likely to gain honest responses than participant identification. Identification would be necessary in an interview situation. o The lack of contact between the researcher and the respondent reduces potential bias from the influence of the researcher‟s belief in the hypotheses. o Questionnaires can easily be widely distributed which gives the research a national or international validity. Face to face interviews can not easily be conducted out with the researcher‟s area of residence.

If the study had concentrated on answering primarily question 4, interviews would have been appropriate.

3.6 Pilot Study

A questionnaire was formed with the intention of answering questions one, two and three above, and a pilot study was carried out to uncover any issues. The pilot questionnaire was conducted with a post graduate diploma in counselling class at a University. The students were asked to complete the questionnaire (paper and pen) and give it to one of the class tutors within a week. This questionnaire is in appendix A. The students were asked to answer the following questions: 1. Did an(y) event(s) which „psychologically wounded‟ you in any way inspire you to become a counsellor? 2. Where would you place the significance of the event(s) on the following scale? a. I would probably have become a counsellor regardless. The event(s) helped my decision in a small way. b. I would possibly have become a counsellor regardless. The event(s) helped my decision to become clear.

c. I was undecided whether to become a counsellor. The event(s) was / were the deciding factor. d. It is unlikely that I would have become a counsellor otherwise. The event(s) was / were an important factor in helping me make my decision. e. The event(s) was / were 100% responsible for my decision. I would not have considered the career otherwise. 3. Did the event(s) happen directly or indirectly to you? 4. Gender 5. What was your age when you entered counselling training? 6. Ethnicity 7. Do you have any other comments?

These questionnaires produced rich quantitative and qualitative data. Many of the students described their „wounding experiences‟ in the „do you have any other comments?‟ section. As this descriptive data was extremely interesting, a question was added to the main questionnaire regarding the respondent‟s specific wounding experiences. Also, the PGDip class were all person centred counsellors, but the respondents of the main questionnaire would be counsellors, psychotherapists or both, and could use one or more approaches. This was addressed. The students were not asked if the qualitative information they gave could be quoted, and it is vital that permission is given for this. The questionnaire used in the main study evolved by containing the same questions as the pilot study with additions as follows:

1. Do you consider yourself a counsellor or psychotherapist? 2. What approach do you practice? 3. Please describe the wounding experience(s) in as much detail as you feel comfortable. In what way did this influence your decision to become a counsellor and psychotherapist? Please feel free to mention anything else you wish. 4. Is it ok if any of the additional comments given in this form are published?

3.7 The Questionnaire

See Appendix B for the full questionnaire. The layout, colours and simplicity of use ensured the questionnaire was as accessible as possible. The font used throughout was Times New Roman. The majority of the text was black with the title and e-mail address red and blue respectfully in order to stand out from the main text. Bold was used to highlight the fact that the questionnaire was anonymous as this was potentially very important to the respondents. Each question was contained within a separate box which was grey with a distinguishing red rim. The questions used bold 13.5 point and the answer choices used normal 12 point. This ensured clear definition between the questions and answers. Drop down boxes and check boxes were white to contrast with the grey box and black font.

The questionnaire was introduced with a short paragraph describing what was involved, the definition of a „wounded healer‟ and the reasons behind the study. This was important as respondents have the right to be clear about what they are going to be asked to do, and needed to be advised of the potential risk of distress. The respondents were given advice regarding this potential distress and support from the researcher if needed. As with any internet based questionnaire security was not guaranteed and the respondents needed to be aware of this. It was important that the respondents were made aware they were not required to answer every question if they did not wish to do so. It is stated that the questionnaire should take between 5 and 15 minutes to complete. This timeframe was used as it was the minimum and maximum times that 3 counsellors and 1 psychotherapist took to complete the questionnaire in a trial run. The opening paragraph was as follows: Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. It should take approximately 5-15 minutes and will contribute towards the completion of my MSc research project. The „wounded healer‟ in this study is a concept relating to counsellors and psychotherapists („healers‟) who have been „psychologically wounded‟ in some way. In this instance the definition of a „psychological wound‟ is: the

effect of one or more traumatic event(s) that had significant emotional impact on you. If this experience does not apply to you please do not be discouraged as this is also relevant for the study. Please answer the questions as far you feel comfortable, and when you are finished click „send‟. The questionnaire is completely anonymous. I will receive no information about you other than that written on the form. As the information is sent over the internet there is an extremely small security risk (as with any internet-based form) and as such I cannot guarantee its absolute security. As the following questions may ask you to touch on painful or sensitive material, please think about how you will look after yourself. If you do feel any distress please contact a counsellor, supervisor, colleague, peer, friend, relative, etc. for support. If you would like support from me (a trained counsellor) you may e-mail me at mailto:a.barr@strath.ac.uk?subject=Wounded Healer Questionnaire and I will phone / e-mail you as soon as I am able. Please choose the relevant answers and feel free to add further comments where appropriate. If there is any question that you would rather not answer, simply leave it blank. The first option available to the respondent was to tick a box if they did not wish to complete the questionnaire. This was designed to show how many people decided against completing the questionnaire after reading the introduction. However, there is the possibility that if somebody decided against completing the questionnaire they would exit the web page without ticking this box. This can not be measured. It is recommended by McLeod (2003) that a questionnaire should “begin with factual items … to engage the respondent‟s attention, before moving to more difficult

questions that may take longer to answerâ&#x20AC;?. For this reason the questionnaire began by asking the respondent the following two questions:

1. Do you consider yourself a counsellor or psychotherapist? a. Counsellor

c. Both

b. Psychotherapist 2. What approach do you practice? a. Cognitive

m. Behavioural

b. Analytical

n. Eclectic

c. Cognitive

o. Psychoanalysis

Behavioural d. PersonCentred

p. Primal q. Psychosynthesis r. Re-Birthing

e. Adlerian

s. Existential

f. TA

t. Integrated

g. Gestalt

u. Hypnotherapy

h. Cognitive

v. Systemic

Jungian

w. Transpersonal

Psychodynamic

x. Other_______

k. NLP

___________

Humanistic

These questions were important as they showed the way in which the respondents saw themselves in their career. A tick-box style of answering was used in both questions rather than freestyle to make data analysis simple and as there was a finite number of potential answers in both cases. The approaches used in question 2 were taken from the BACPâ&#x20AC;&#x;s1 list of counselling and psychotherapy approaches available in the UK (BACP, 2005). The respondent was able to choose a first and second most dominant approach if appropriate.

British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

The heart of the study followed in the following 4 questions: 3. Did an(y) event(s) which â&#x20AC;&#x17E;psychologically woundedâ&#x20AC;&#x; you in any way inspire you to become a counsellor and psychotherapist? a. Yes b. No 4. Where would you place the significance of the event(s) on the following scale? a. I would probably have become a counsellor and psychotherapist regardless. The event(s) helped my decision in a small way. b. I would possibly have become a counsellor and psychotherapist regardless. The event(s) helped my decision to become clear. c. I was undecided whether to become a counsellor and psychotherapist. The event(s) was / were the deciding factor. d. It is unlikely that I would have become a counsellor and psychotherapist otherwise. The event(s) was / were an important factor in helping me make my decision. e. The event(s) was / were 100% responsible for my decision. I would not have considered the career otherwise. 5. Did the event(s) happen directly or indirectly to you? a. Directly b. Indirectly c. Both

6. Please describe the wounding experience(s) in as much detail as you feel comfortable. In what way did this influence your decision to become a counsellor and psychotherapist? Please feel free to mention anything else you wish.

This data is combined to show the details of the wound and to what extent it led the respondent to a therapeutic career. The scale in question 4 was developed to show the extent of the event in relation to career choice. Five possible responses were used to give a wide but clear choice. Free writing was used in question 6 as this was necessary to give rich qualitative data. A tick-box system would have been limiting and potentially offensive for respondents who may have felt their experiences were being de-personalised or not offered as an answer. Questions 3 and 5 used a tick-box style of answering rather than freestyle to make data analysis simple and as there was a finite number of potential answers in both cases.

The questionnaire followed with factual questions which guided the respondent from the emotional part of their brain to the cognitive part. This allows difficult feelings to be temporarily reduced, and so guides the respondent into as controlled a state of mind as possible.

7. Gender a. Male

b. Female

8. What was your age when you entered counselling training? a. Under 30

d. 51-60

b. 30-40

e. Over 60

c. 41-50 9. Ethnicity a. White

g. Chinese

b. Bangladeshi

h. Mixed

c. African

Other_______

d. Indian

___________

e. Caribbean

___________

f. Pakistani

Questions 7, 8 and 9 allowed the results of the main question to be compared with demographic factors. A tick-box style of answering was used rather than freestyle to make data analysis simple, specifically in question 8 where age bands were created, and as there were a finite number of potential answers in all cases. The ethnicities in question 9 were taken from the â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Equal Opportunities Commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x; ethnicities that should appear on a job application equal opportunities monitoring form (EOC, 2005).

The final two questions gave the respondent an opportunity to make additional comments regarding publishing their material or anything else they felt was relevant.

10. Is it ok if any of the additional comments given in this form are published? a. Yes b. No c. Some (please specify)

11. Do you have any other comments?

Is was important that the respondent was given the opportunity to make additional comments as it would have been frustrating to want to make comments and not be given the space to do so. It was important the respondent was given the opportunity to write freely in response to both questions and so the space was given to do this using an open question style. Although this potentially guided the client back into an emotional place, it is not possible to fully make the decision asked for in question 10 or the comments asked for in question 11 until the questionnaire was at the end. In hindsight, questions 10 and 11 should have been reversed so that the respondent had made additional comments before deciding if they could be published.

After the questionnaire had been submitted, a message appeared thanking the respondent for their time and advising them the results would appear on the website in due course.

Galloway (1997) reports on useful points to consider when constructing a questionnaire. All questions were designed not to be:

o Leading - A leading question is one that forces or implies a certain type of answer. A closed question must supply answers that cover the whole range of responses, and are equally distributed throughout the range. All answers should be equally likely. o Biased – 

Prestige bias is the tendency for respondents to answer in a way that makes them feel better. People may not lie directly, but may try to put a better light on themselves. The best way to minimise this is to make the questionnaire as private as possible.



Most adjectives, verbs, and nouns in the English language have either a positive or negative connotation. Two words may have equivalent meaning, yet one may be a compliment and the other an insult. Positive and negative wording were avoided.

o Presuming – Asking a presuming question may not allow the respondent to answer it, if the presumption is false. o Hypothetical - Hypothetical questions force the respondent to give thought to something they may have never considered. This does not produce clear and consistent data representing real opinion. o Offensive – It is vital that the respondent is not offended in any way. Their experience of completing the questionnaire should be as positive as possible. o Confusing - All questions were designed to be clear with obvious instructions and ease of answering, with the use of colloquial or ethnic expressions avoided. This was to eliminate the chance that a question would mean different things to different people.

3.8 Internet Based versus Pen and Paper

An on-line questionnaire was used to gather data as this gave the opportunity for the most responses. Using the internet allowed a wider audience to be reached, allowed convenience of completing (compared to paper, pen and post), did not restrict the space for qualitative data, and ensured all responses were legible. Time was also saved on data entry compared to paper

and pen questionnaires as the results were automatically entered into an excel spreadsheet from the internet.

As the questionnaire was internet based respondents completed it anonymously and the results were gathered by a web design company. The data was treated with confidentiality at all times. The questionnaire was available to be completed on-line for approximately 2 months.

3.9 Advertising the Questionnaire

An e-mail containing the web link, describing the research, asking people to take part in the questionnaire and requesting they forward the e-mail to their colleagues, was sent to the following: o All the supervisor‟s contacts in the therapeutic world (sent by the supervisor). o All 2003/2004 Strathclyde University PGDip Counselling students. o All counsellors and psychotherapists at the Sandyford Initiative, Glasgow (NHS). o All counsellors and psychotherapists from the „Next Step Counselling‟ 2005 retreat. o All counsellors at Coatbridge College, Coatbridge.

An advertisement was placed in the following: o Strathclyde University MSc on-line forum. o BACP Journal. o BACP website. o PCT Scotland website. o UMIST counselling on-line forum.

3.10 Verification Study

As it can be the case that a person with an interest in a subject is more likely to respond to a questionnaire on said subject, a verification study was carried out. A postgraduate diploma in counselling class at a university were asked to complete a short version of the questionnaire (appendix A) after the main data had been collected. This class was selected as they did not respond to the main questionnaire but did fit the criteria to do so. Therefore they were both a random and representative group of people. The class members completed the paper and pen questionnaire within 2 days and gave it to a class tutor. The questionnaire was concerned only with the quantitative data which allowed a comparison with the main body of data.

3.11 Quantitative Data Analysis

The original data was transferred from the excel spreadsheet the web company provided to SPSS statistical software, and the quantitative data was analysed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse nominal data (frequency counts) and inferential statistics were used to analyse significant differences (chi-squared testing) and interactions (univariant analysis). Inferential statistics show the likelihood that the results created by the research sample will hold true for the counsellor and psychotherapist population as a whole.

3.11.1 Chi-Squared Testing When investigating whether there was a significant difference between two categorical variables, the Pearsonâ&#x20AC;&#x;s chi-square test was used. This test was chosen for this purpose as the data is non-parametric. This test compares the frequencies observed in each category to the frequencies expected to appear in the categories by chance. See appendix C for a full explanation of the calculations involved.

To be successful, chi-squared testing has two important assumptions (Field 2005):

1. It is not used on a repeated measures design. This was not an issue as each respondent answered the questions only once.

2. At least 80% of the frequencies should be greater than 5. If this is not the case there is a loss of statistical power and the test may fail to detect a genuine effect. This is discussed further where appropriate in the results section.

The odds ratio was used to calculate the effect size of the categorical data when they summarise a focused comparison (2x2 contingency tables only). This is the ratio of the odds of an event occurring more in one variable than another. An odds ratio of 1 indicates the odds of a particular outcome are equal in both variables.

3.11.2 Univariant Analysis Univariant analysis was used when investigating interactions as the data is non-parametric and the variables are all independent. Chi-squared testing was used to determine the presence of significant differences between 3 or more variables, and a two-way ANOVA univariant test was used to show these interactions in detail. See appendix D for a full explanation of the calculations involved.

3.11.3 Display of Results As detailed in appendix C, chi-squared is reported with the associated degrees of freedom, and is written as follows:  2

df) = x, where x is the value of chi-squared. The results are

said to be statistically significantly different if p< 0.05, where p = significance value, or error level. Graphs were produced to best show the results. Ethnicities with less than 10 responses were grouped together and named „ethnic minority‟ and approaches with less than 20 responses were grouped together and named „other‟.

3.12 Qualitative Data Analysis - Description of Wounding Experiences This data was gathered from written responses to the question, „Please describe the wounding experience(s) in as much detail as you feel comfortable. In what way did this influence your decision to become a counsellor and psychotherapist? Please feel free to mention anything else you wish‟.

The codes were developed using thematic analysis as the following process shows: o Qualitative responses were read several times. o Arising themes were noted. o Themes were listed and connections made between them. o Triangulation was used to change or expanded themes as necessary. o Codes were developed to link the themes together. o The data was re-read and each paragraph was assigned to one or more code. o The data was re-read again and the coding was checked.

Reliability testing was used to ensure accurate coding. An independent coder from the researcher‟s MSc class coded the respondent‟s qualitative comments. Codes were compared and a correlation analysis was conducted. The codes were revised to fully agree with the researcher and independent coder‟s analysis. All qualitative information regarding the psychological wound that led to career choice was used. Information not relevant to this question was discarded.

The following assumptions were made when coding the data: o Death is treated as non-suicide unless stated otherwise. o Events could have happened at any time in the respondent's life unless stated in the coding that it was in childhood or adulthood. The codes were presented as „categories‟2 (e.g. abuse) and sub- categories (e.g. sexual abuse) with corresponding percentages and quotes.

Previously referred to as „codes‟.

3.13 Qualitative Data Analysis – Leading to Further Research

Rich qualitative data emerged which did not have a place in the main research. This data was coded in the same way as described in section 3.11 and was used to suggest further research. This came from the questions, „Please describe the wounding experience(s) in as much detail as you feel comfortable. In what way did this influence your decision to become a counsellor and psychotherapist? Please feel free to mention anything else you wish‟, and, „Do you have any other comments‟.

3.14 Ethical Approval

The ethical approval application is in Appendix E. Ethical approval was granted at first application and before the pilot stage of the questionnaire.

The document describes the research as involving 200 counsellors from the 4 main counselling approaches in the UK, with a short qualitative analysis carried out with a counsellor from each approach prior to the completion of the questionnaire. It became clear that access to 100 counsellors (50% response rate) from each approach would not be possible. Therefore the realistic approach was to reach as many people as possible and therefore reach as many counselling and psychotherapy approaches as possible. To ensure the questionnaire was composed of relevant questions, the researcher‟s MSc class was used to give feedback rather than 4 short qualitative analysis interviews. This was at least as effective as feedback was gained from 20 counsellors and psychotherapists.

The proposed methodological design and data analysis reported in the ethical approval proposal was not changed. The risk of psychological harm was dealt with in the introductory paragraph of the questionnaire.

4. RESULTS 253 people responded, all of whom chose to complete all quantitative questions relevant to them. The first option available to the respondent was to tick a box if they did not wish to complete the questionnaire. Nobody chose this option which suggests that nobody chose not to complete the questionnaire upon reading the introductions. However, as it is possible that someone may have exited the questionnaire without ticking this box and submitting it, this can not be said to be an accurate assumption.

A. The Extent to which Psychological Wounds Inspire Counsellors and Psychotherapists to become Wounded Healers 4.1 Belief Psychological Wounding Experiences led to Career Choice

73.9% of respondents believe that one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) inspired them to become a counsellor or psychotherapist. 26.1% do not believe this to be the case. See graph 4.1.

YES NO

66 Respondents

187 Respondents

Graph 4.1: Responses to the question, â&#x20AC;&#x17E;did a(ny) psychologically wounding event(s) lead you to career choice?â&#x20AC;&#x;

4.2 Verification Study

70.8% of respondents of the verification study believe that or one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) inspired them to become a counsellor and 29.2% do not believe this to be the case.

4.3 Quotes Supporting the Relationship between Wounding Events and Career Choice

Many respondents described the way in which their psychologically wounding experiences influenced their decision to enter a career in counselling or psychotherapy. Some examples follow: o “In general, these childhood experiences shaped me to want to care for those in emotional pain, and I have become a psychotherapist in order to meet that goal.” o “I decided to train to become a counsellor so that I could help other people who were asking for help. Also, using my pain in a constructive way is the only way to make sense of it. Otherwise my suffering would colour my life in a way that meant the biggest thing in my life was about my being damaged.” o “It was not just one event but it was growing up in the war in the north of Ireland and witnessing many terrible events that inspired me to train as a therapist.” o “Becoming a psychotherapist is in some ways my answer to this hurt”. o “(description of psychologically wounding experience) … it took me the better part of two years to get through it with the help of a therapist and anti depressants. When I finally felt more grounded and ready to look for work ... a counselling course... instantly appealed to me” o “Since my own therapy, I recognised that I could link the archetypal Wounded Healer to my own experiences.”

B. The Extent to which Wounding Experiences Leading to Career Choice varies with Demographic Factors 4.4 Counsellors, Psychotherapists or Both

Chi squared testing showed counsellors are significantly more likely to report that one or more psychological wound(s) led them to career choice than psychotherapists or respondents who identified themselves as both. 2 (2)= 8.220 and p = 0.016. See graph 4.4 and table 4.4. DID AN(Y) EVENT(S) WHICH ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY WOUNDED’ YOU IN ANY WAY INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME A COUNSELLOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST? 120

108

FREQUENCY

100 80 60

20 0 COUNSELLOR

PSYCHOTHERAPIST YES

BOTH

Graph 4.4: The extent to which designation affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice. Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

8.220(a)

.016

8.252

.016

6.634

.010

251

a 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 13.41. Table 4.4: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between designation in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

4.5 Approach

Chi squared testing showed that there is no therapeutic approach from which counsellors and psychotherapists are significantly most likely to report one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) leading to career choice. 2 (4)= 4.04 and p = 0.403.

However, as 3 cells have an expected count of less than 5, there is a loss of statistical power and the test may have failed to detect a genuine effect.

See graph 4.5 and table 4.5. As the sample size of the non-person centred approach is small, it is possible that repeating the study with a larger sample size would show a more marked difference. There is a trend towards person centred therapists as more likely to have experienced wounding leading to career choice. There is a trend towards an even split of cognitive behavioural therapists experiencing and not experiencing wounding leading to career choice.

FREQUENCY

DID AN(Y) EVENT(S) WHICH ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY WOUNDED’ YOU IN ANY WAY INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME A COUNSELLOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST? 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

119

D RE NT E NC

R PE

34 13

OD CH

IC AM YN

ED AT GR

E INT

A UR VIO

VE ITI GN

6 L

HE OT

YES

Graph 4.5: The extent to which therapeutic approach affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

4.024(a)

.403

3.818

.431

.014

.906

250

a 3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.43.

Table 4.5: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between approaches in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

4.6 Gender

Chi squared testing showed that females are significantly more likely to report (a) wounding experience(s) leading to career choice than males. ď Ł2 (1) = 11.693 and p = 0.001. See graph 4.6 and table 4.6. This is further confirmed by the odds ratio which states that females are 2.82 times3 more likely to consider a wounding experience as influencing their career than males.

See appendix F for the calculation.

DID AN(Y) EVENT(S) WHICH ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY WOUNDED’ YOU IN ANY WAY INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME A COUNSELLOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST? 160

145

FREQUENCY

140 120 100 80 60

20 0 FEMALE

MALE YES

Graph 4.6: The extent to which gender affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

Value Pearson ChiSquare Continuity Correction(a) Likelihood Ratio

Asymp.

Exact

Sig. (2-

Sig. (1-

sided)

11.693(b)

.001

10.607

.001

11.060

.001

Fisher's Exact

.001

Test Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

11.646

.001

249

a Computed only for a 2x2 table b 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 17.49. Table 4.6: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between gender in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice. 42

4.7 Ethnicity

Chi squared testing showed that there is no ethnicity where counsellors and psychotherapists are significantly more likely to report wounding experiences leading to career choice than any other. 2 (1) = 1.988 and p = 0.159. The sample size of ethnic minority respondents was too small for a valid analysis to take place. It is unclear whether this result would hold with a more widespread sample. See graph 4.7 and table 4.7.

FREQUENCY

DID AN(Y) EVENT(S) WHICH ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY WOUNDED’ YOU IN ANY WAY INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME A COUNSELLOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST? 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

164

56 14 WHITE

ETHNIC MINORITY YES

Graph 4.7: The extent to which ethnicity affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

Value Pearson Chi-Square

Asymp. Sig.

Exact Sig.

(2-sided)

(1-sided)

1.988(b)

.159

Continuity Correction(a)

1.351

.245

Likelihood Ratio

1.853

.173

Fisher's Exact Test Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

.214 1.979

.124

.159

243

a Computed only for a 2x2 table b 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.15. Table 4.7: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between ethnicity in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

4.8 Age When Entered Counselling or Psychotherapy Training

Chi squared testing showed that there is no age range (at the time of commencing counselling or psychotherapy training) where counsellors and psychotherapists are significantly more likely to report wounding experiences leading to career choice than any other. 2 (4) = 6.562 and p = 0.161. However, as 3 cells have an expected count of less than 5, there is a loss of statistical power and the test may have failed to detect a genuine effect. As the sample size of respondents aged „51-60‟ and „over 60‟ was small, it is possible that repeating the experiment with a larger sample size would show a more marked difference. See graph 4.8a and table 4.8a.

DID AN(Y) EVENT(S) WHICH ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY WOUNDED’ YOU IN ANY WAY INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME A COUNSELLOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST? 80

FREQUENCY

70 60

52 46

50 40

11 5

0 UNDER 30

30-40

41-50 YES

51-60

OVER 60

Graph 4.8a: The extent to which age when entered counselling or psychotherapy training affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

6.562(a)

.161

6.733

.151

1.820

.177

249

a 3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .27.

Table 4.8a: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between age when entered counselling or psychotherapy training in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

Using the crosstabs function on SPSS, it is shown that there are three cells with a count of less than five when looking at, „did an(y) event(s) which psychologically wounded you in any way inspire you to become a counsellor and psychotherapist?‟, and, „age when entered counselling / psychotherapy training‟. As there were very few respondents in the ‟51-60‟ and „over 60‟ age groups, these categories were removed, and the crosstabs function was

repeated. With these two groups removed, no counts were less than five, and the results are shown to be significantly different, where 2 (2) = 6.043 and p = 0.049. See table 4.8b.

Value Pearson Chi-Square

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

6.043(a)

.049

5.934

.051

3.318

.069

Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

232

a 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 15.78. Table 4.8b: Chi squared test showing the statistical difference between age when entered counselling / psychotherapy training in relation to the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice, with ‟51-60‟ and „over 60‟ removed.

4.9 Gender and Ethnicity

With respect to percentage of wounding experiences leading to career choice, analysis of variance found a significant interaction between gender and ethnicity of respondents. F(1,238) = 6.614 and p = 0.011. This shows the following (see graph 4.9): o White males are significantly more likely to report wounding leading to career choice than ethnic minority males. o White and ethnic minority females are equally likely to report wounding leading to career choice. o Ethnic minority males are significantly least likely to report wounding leading to career choice.

Graph 4.9: The extent to which interaction of gender and ethnicity affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

4.10 Gender and Age

With respect to percentage of wounding experiences leading to career choice, analysis of variance found a significant interaction between gender and age of respondents. F(3,239) = 63.095 and p = 0.028. This shows the following (see graph 4.10): o Females 51-60 and males over 60 are equally likely to report wounding leading to career choice. o Females 51-60 and males over 60 are the most likely to report wounding leading to career choice. o Females under 30 and males 30-50 are equally likely to report wounding leading to career choice. o Males 51-60 are least likely to report wounding leading to career choice. o Males over 60 are significantly more likely to report wounding leading to career choice than males under 60.

GENDER MALE FEMALE

ESTIMATED MARGINAL MEANS

0.75

0.5

0.25

-0.25

-0.5

under 30

30-40

41-50

51-60

over 60

AGE WHEN YOU ENTERED COUNSELLING / PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING

Graph 4.10: The extent to which interaction of gender and age when entered counselling / psychotherapy training affects the likelihood of psychologically wounding experiences leading to career choice.

No other combination of demographic factors showed a significant difference.

C. Significance of Wounding Event on Career Choice 4.11 Significance of Wounding Event on Career Choice

The respondents who stated that one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) led to career choice were asked to rate the significance of the influence of the wounding event on their choice of career. See graph 4.11a. The results are as follows: o Probably chosen career regardless – 22.9%. o Possibly chosen career regardless – 29.1%. o Events were the deciding factor of career choice – 5.0% o Unlikely chosen career otherwise – 33.0%. o Not considered career otherwise – 10.1%.

SIGNIFICANCE OF WOUNDING EXPERIENCES ON CAREER CHOICE 70

52 FREQUENCY

41 40

10 0

PROBABLY POSSIBLY CHOSEN CAREER CHOSEN CAREER REGARDLESS REGARDLESS

EVENTS DECIDING FACTOR ON CAREER

UNLIKELY NOT CONSIDERED CHOSEN CAREER CAREER REGARDLESS OTHERWISE

Graph 4.11a: The significance of the influence of the wounding events on the respondent‟s choice of career. When merging „probably chosen career regardless‟ with „possibly chosen career regardless‟, and „unlikely chosen career regardless‟ with „not considered career otherwise‟, there is a slight majority in relation to the former (52.0% compared to 43.1%). See graph 4.11b. SIGNIFICANCE OF WOUNDING EXPERIENCES ON CAREER CHOICE 100

FREQUENCY

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

PROBABLY OR POSSIBLY CHOSEN CAREER REGARDLESS

UNLIKELY / NOT CONSIDERED CAREER OTHERWISE

Graph 4.11b: The significance of the influence of the wounding events on the respondent‟s choice of career when merging „probably chosen career regardless‟ with „possibly chosen career regardless‟, and „unlikely chosen career regardless‟ and „not considered career otherwise‟.

4.12 The significance of the extent to which psychologically wounding experience(s) affected Career Choice in relation to Demographic Factors

The significance of the extent to which psychologically wounding experience(s) affected career choice in relation to demographic factors is discussed using the merged data from section 4.11.

Counsellors, Psychotherapists or Both Chi squared testing found that respondents from different designations did not significantly differ in relation to the extent to which wounding events influence their career choice. 2 (1)= 0.500 and p = 0.480.

Approach Chi squared testing found that respondents from different therapeutic approaches did not significantly differ in relation to the extent to which wounding events influence their career choice. 2 (4)= 2.195 and p = 0.700.

Gender Chi squared testing found that respondents from different genders did not significantly differ in relation to the extent to which wounding events influence their career choice. 2 (1)= 0.437 and p = 0.508. Males are equally likely to report their career choice in relation to their wounding experiences as „probably / possibly chosen career regardless‟ and „unlikely / not considered career otherwise‟. There is a slight trend towards males being more influenced by their wounding experiences than females, regarding career choice.

Ethnicity Chi squared testing found that respondents from different ethnicities did not significantly differ in relation to the extent to which wounding events influence their career choice. 2 (1)= 1.227 and p = 0.268.

Age When Entered Counselling or Psychotherapy Training Chi squared testing found that respondents from different ages when entering counselling / psychotherapy training did not significantly differ in relation to the extent to which wounding

events influence their career choice. ď Ł2 (4)= 5.181 and p = 0.269. However, as 3 cells have an expected count of less than 5, there is a loss of statistical power and the test may have failed to detect a genuine effect.

D. The Causes of these Psychological Wounds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Direct, Indirect or Both The majority of the psychological wounds were experienced directly by the respondents. 65% of respondents experienced direct wounds, 15.6% experienced indirect wounds and 19.4% experienced both, as shown by graph D. 140 120

117

FREQUENCY

100 80 60 35

20 0 DIRECT

INDIRECT

BOTH

Graph D: The cause of the psychological wound(s).

4.13 The Cause of the Psychological Wounds on Career Choice in relation to Demographic Factors

Chi squared testing shows there to be no significant differences across demographic factors when exploring the cause of the wounds leading to career choice. Table 4.13 shows the corresponding chi squared and error values, and the expected number of cells with a count of less than five.

Chi Squared

Error

Expected count <5

Designation

2 (4) = 4.890

p = 0.289

Approach

2 (8) = 3.781

p = 0.876

Gender

2 (2) = 3.490

p = 0.175

Ethnicity

2 (2) = 0.547

p = 0.761

2 (8) =

p = 0.187

Age when entered counselling / psychotherapy training

11.621

Table 4.13: The statistical significance of the cause of (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) leading to career choice, in relation to demographic factors.

E. The Causes of these Wounds 4.14 Wounding Experiences

Table 4.14 shows the main wounding experiences and the percentage of respondents (who described their experiences) who suffered from these. The causes of the psychological wounds were varied, with some respondents suffering from more than one wound. The main categories are abuse (55.6%), family life as a child (46.9%), mental ill health – own (39.4%), social (36.35%), family life as an adult (28.1%), bereavement (21.9%), mental ill health – others (11.3%), life threatening (9.4%), other (7.5%), physical ill health – others (6.3) and physical ill health – own (5.0%). The full coding analysis is in appendix G.

Categories

% of respondents4

abuse

55.6

family life as a child

46.9

160 respondents provided qualitative information on their psychological wounds.

mental ill health - own

39.4

social

36.3

family life as an adult

28.1

bereavement

21.9

mental ill health – others

11.3

life threatening

9.4

other

7.5

physical ill health – others

6.3

physical ill health - own

5.0

Table 4.14: The main wounding experiences, and the percentage of respondents who described their experiences, who suffered these.

Although the following quotes do not refer directly to the experiences leading to career choice, this can be assumed to be the case as the quotes are taken out of context.

Of those who said that their main wounding experience was abuse (55.6%), the majority described this as sexual abuse (20%5). For example, “sexual trauma in childhood which was not dealt with at the time and which interfered with development towards a fully functioning adult”. The second most common form of abuse was psychological (15%), e.g. “bullying at work- led me to question my feelings about myself”. Physical abuse consisted of 10%, e.g. “the physical abuse I was subjected to lead to me giving birth to a stillborn baby.”

All percentages stated in this section are relative to the total, not the individual categories.

In the „family life as a child‟ category (46.9%), the majority of the issues related to a lack of parental attention and / or care (9.4%). For instance, “parents who did not understand the concept of bonding or recognition of children as individuals”. 6.3% of respondents mentioned alcohol addiction within the family, e.g. “my father suffered extreme alcoholism and was abusive to my … mother”. 3.8% of respondents report parental relationship problems psychologically wounded them. For example, “warlike atmosphere at home and subsequent parental separation and divorce”.

Mental ill health of the respondent featured largely in the descriptions of psychological wounds (39.4%). Various mental ill health issues were reported with depression accounting for 13.8% overall. For instance, „”I suffered long term depression and breakdown and felt there were few people who understood.” Post traumatic stress disorder, psychotic experiences and suicidal thoughts (all 3.1%) were also commonplace within metal ill health experiences. The following quotes illustrate these; “I began experiencing late onset PTSD as a result of childhood abuse which I had not remembered before that time.”, “this led to some very transformative psychotic experiences” and “serious mental health problems. … suicide attempts”.

Of the social problems experienced (36.3%), communication problems featured highly (5%), e.g. “stuttering problems”. Loneliness was also an issue for many respondents (3.8%), e.g. “I was struggling with my self identity and a sense of being lonely”.

Family life as an adult caused many respondents psychological wounds (28.1%). 9.4% suffered romantic relationship breakdown. For instance, “my marriage ended in divorce, and my ex-husband took me to court claiming I was mentally, physically and emotionally capable of looking after my daughter.” 5.6% were involved in destructive relationships, e.g. “serious mental health problems…involvement in destructive relationships”.

21.9% of respondents reported bereavement as a psychological wound. Non-suicide deaths accounted for 16.9% and suicidal deaths for 3.1%. For example, “one bereavement and loss after another … no one heard, no one listened for years and years” and “my … son … committed suicide.”

The mental ill health of others was also important in many respondents‟ lives (11.3%) and caused many of them psychological wounds. The majority of these focused on the mental illhealth of a parent (7.5%), e.g. “my early life experiences included … having to look after a parent with anxiety and depression.”

9.4% of the respondents experienced life threatening events, whether medical, a terrorist action or other. For instance, “near death experience x 3 living in a country during civil war (bomb blowing up 30 seconds after I passed it and it destroyed half a street).”

Some respondents reported a trauma but did not give any details (7.5%). For instance, “various traumas resulted in therapy and subsequent desire to train as a counsellor.”

The physical ill health of others had a significant impact on a number of the respondents (6.3%), the most common being a parent or child. For example, “my … son was involved … (in) a serious road accident”. Lastly the physical ill health of the respondents was significant for 5% of them, e.g. “I was diagnosed with a chronic illness”.

4.15 Likelihood of Wounding Experience

Assuming that 73.9% of therapists have experienced one or more psychologically wounding experiences that led them to career choice, the likelihood of a therapist having experienced a particular wound can be calculated using the statistics in section 4.14.

Experience

% of likelihood

abuse 41.1 family life as a child 34.7 mental ill health - own 29.1

social 26.8 family life as an adult 20.8 bereavement 16.2 mental ill health – others 8.4 life threatening 6.9 other 5.5 physical ill health – others 4.7 physical ill health - own 3.7 Table 4.15: The likelihood a therapist will have experienced particular events.

F. Outcomes not in Research Plan Rich qualitative data from the questionnaire has pointed towards many hypotheses. Further research would need to be done in these areas to evaluate the extent of accuracy.

Experiencing counselling or psychotherapy may lead to becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist (n=276). For example, “the experience of attending counselling was so influential in my life. I saw the counsellor over a six month period and it became clearer to me what direction I wanted to take my psychology studies”, and, “The effect counselling has had on my life is my inspiration for wanting to offer that to others.”

n is the number of respondents for whom the belief is true.

Counsellors and psychotherapists may enter their profession to heal personal psychological wounds (n=12). For example, “felt less alienated in the world when I was with my clients and working through my own traumas”, and, “I suppose I was using the training for my own personal development as well as considering it as a career.”

Psychological wounding may lead to work in a related area of counselling or psychotherapy (n=12). For example, “personal alcoholism, I now work with people with addiction problems”, and, “I was sexually abused as a child… my journey of healing led me to realise how much I wanted to work specifically with other male survivors.”

Counsellors and psychotherapists believe their wounding experience can improve their client work (n=11). For example, “I have realised that the counselling I am offering becomes actually even deeper when I am in touch with my wounds”, and, “I am not sure that I would be as good a counsellor that I'm told I am if I had not been a 'wounded healer' … my experiences have given me insight, empathy and a desire to help others in emotional distress.” Feeling disengaged with the local mental health service can lead to becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist (n=3). For example, “failed by NHS than and as an adult”, and, “I was then (I feel) passed from pillar to post seeing psychiatrists/psychologists/counsellors/cpns and it seemed nobody could help me… I felt I had been let down by the profession.”

Being in a helping profession can lead to becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist (n=2). For example, “I got involved in telephone 'counselling' on an LGBT 7 helpline to begin with and started to understand something about the person -centred approach and how amazing it was - both for me and the clients who phoned”, and, “I .. trained as a social worker prior to undertaking counselling training.”

A person close to you experiencing counselling or psychotherapy may lead to becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist (n=1). For example, “I was introduced to counselling by a girlfriend that had been abused. My experience with her led to my interest in counselling/psychotherapy”.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender.

5. DISCUSSION

5.1 Quantitative Results

5.1.1 Verification Study Examining the question, â&#x20AC;&#x17E;did a(ny) psychologically wounding event(s) lead you to career choice?â&#x20AC;&#x;, the results of the verification study were very close to the results from the main study. This suggests that the main findings are not primarily due to a response bias.

5.1.2 Hypotheses Hypothesis one postulated that counsellors and psychotherapists are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) led to career choice. Counsellors are significantly more likely to experience psychological wounds leading to career choice, so this is false. Hypothesis two postulated that practising counselling, psychotherapy or both bears no relevance to the degree of the extent to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice. This has been shown to be true. Hypothesis three postulated that practising counselling, psychotherapy or both bears no relevance to whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice. This has been shown to be true.

Hypotheisis four postulated that therapists from different approaches are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experience(s) led to career choice. This has been shown to be true. Hypotheisis five postulated that the degree of the extent to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within approach. This has been shown to be true. Hypotheisis six postulated that therapeutic approach bears no relevance to whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice. This has been shown to be true.

Hypothesis seven postulated that female and male therapists are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. Females are significantly more likely to experience psychological wounds leading to career choice, so this is false. Hypothesis eight postulated that the degree to which (a) psychologically wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within gender. This has been shown to

be true. Hypothesis nine postulated that there is no relationship between gender and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice. This has been shown to be true.

Hypothesis ten postulated that therapists from different ethnic backgrounds are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. This has been shown that this is true. However, when considering ethnicity and gender together in relation to this question, white males are significantly more likely to report wounding experiences leading to career choice than ethnic minority males. Hypothesis eleven postulated that the degree to which psychologically (a) wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within ethnic background. This has been shown to be true. Hypothesis twelve postulated that there is no relationship between ethnic background and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice. This has been shown to be true.

Hypothesis thirteen postulated that therapists of different ages are equally likely to consider one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to career choice. This has been shown to be true. Hypothesis fourteen postulated that the degree to which psychologically (a) wounding experience(s) influenced career choice will not vary within age. This has been shown to be true. Hypothesis fifteen postulated that there is no relationship between age and whether the type of wound(s) experienced led to career choice. This has been shown to be true.

5.1.3 Significance of the Psychological Wounds on career choice When exploring the significance of the psychological wounds on career choice, merging „probably chosen career regardless‟ with „possibly chosen career regardless‟, and „unlikely chosen career regardless‟ with „not considered career otherwise‟, show a trend towards the former. This suggests other motivational factors in addition to the psychological wound when choosing a career as a counsellor or psychotherapist. Beichman (2001) explores the extent of these other factors, and how they vary with gender, approach and age.

5.2 Description of Wounding Experiences

Understanding the psychological wounds which can influence the desire to pursue a career as a counsellor or psychotherapist is both interesting and important. The wide variety of experiences has been shown, and it has been demonstrated that it is possible to positively channel these traumas.

As previously discussed, purely quantitative research has limitations. In relation to this study, those limitations are an understanding of the person behind the statistic. The descriptions of their wounding experiences which many respondents chose to share, has added depth to the research. The explanations behind the statistics have been shown in a way which values the respondent‟s experiences and gives the reader insight into this world.

5.3 Relevance to Other Research

The results of this study show, as previous research has suggested, that many people enter counselling and psychotherapy professions because of one or more personally psychologically wounding experiences. Instead of merely postulating that this is the case, writers such as Beichman, Meer, Lomas, Fussell, Dryden, Spurling, Powers, Sussman, Corey, Day, Lawson and Watts can cite this research. Were Freud and Jung still alive, they could also use this research as proof of what they considered to be true.

This research shows that there is an importance of psychologically wounding experiences in the lives of counsellors and psychotherapists before they enter training. Beichman (2001) supports this by reporting some of the qualitative data attached to his study. One of his respondents‟ describes their experience of being very unhappy, and another described themselves as a survivor of the Second World War, where the word „survivor‟ suggests living through a negative experience.

Many of the wounding experiences described by respondents of this study occurred during childhood. This further demonstrates the hypotheses of Roe and Seigleman (1963), Harris (1975), Marlow (1985), Racusin, Abramowitz and Winter (1981), Goldberg (1986), Meer (1998), Sussman (1992), Fussell‟s (1988), Norcross and Guy (in Dryden and Spurling, 1989), 60

Clarkson (1997) and Goldberg (1986) that childhood experiences can be influential on career choice.

Beichman (2001) reports many reasons for entering counselling as a career, of which approximately 34% suggest psychologically wounding experiences. The main reason which suggests this8 was that of using lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x;s experience for the benefit of others, where the mean female score was significantly higher than the mean male score. Beichmanâ&#x20AC;&#x;s results are supported by this research, as females have been found to be significantly more likely than males to choose a career as a counsellor or psychotherapist because of psychologically wounding experiences. Beichmanâ&#x20AC;&#x;s (2001) research also supports that of this study by showing that the reasons some therapists entered their profession was to heal their own wounds. The issues of resolving / understanding psychological difficulties and / or mental health problems, and, resolving past / present issues were key in his research. These headings could be used to describe the experiences had by many people quoted in section 4.14 of this study.

5.4 Limitations of the Study

The distribution of questionnaire could not be controlled beyond initial efforts. The e-mail describing the research and giving the web address was forwarded to therapists in many countries around the world. As there was no question asking respondents the details of their country of residence, this limits the research in that the results can not be said to be representative of one particular country, or continent. Without further research, it is not possible to tell if the research results would be different if the respondents were based in UK only, Europe only, USA only, etc.

The completion of the questionnaire could not be controlled. It is probable that some people received information of the study and chose not to take part in it. If there was a particular reason for this, which if applicable is unknown to the researcher, this may have affected the results.

This was found to the fourth main reason overall.

5.5 Significance of the Results in the Counselling and Psychotherapy World

There has been much speculation on the concept of counsellors and psychotherapists as wounded healers with the idea that the existence is widespread as taken for granted. This has now been demonstrated to be the case quantitatively and qualitatively. This concept no longer needs to be assumed but can be stated with confidence.

5.1.1 Personal

While analysing the results of this study I have learned that many of my feelings regarding the details of therapists having experienced psychological healing, which lead to some extent to their career choice, were correct. I am not surprised that more therapists are wounded healers than are not, or that more females than males are wounded healers, as this is my personal experience. I have learned that I, and many of my friends and colleagues, are in the majority because we are wounded healers. This gives me a sense of unity with those around me in a professional capacity, which makes the vocation I have chosen feel all the more fitting with me.

5.1.2 Therapists Knowing that approximately three-quarters of all therapists are wounded healers will hopefully give the â&#x20AC;&#x17E;healersâ&#x20AC;&#x; a feeling of commonality, which may encourage them to bring the topic into the open. This could be helpful in a workplace with a feeling of impersonality between the therapists, or where there is a hierarchical structure.

5.1.3 Supervision Supervisors are informed of a 74% chance that a supervisee is a wounded healer, and likelihood of what that wound might be. The supervisor may feel that it is important to explore this, and what (if any) wounds are present, in order to understand the issues that may affect the supervisee on a personal level.

5.1.4 Training Many of the qualitative findings confirm that some people who apply for counselling or psychotherapy courses are seeking personal development only, whether aware or unaware of this motive. When considering applying for a training course in counselling or 62

psychotherapy, the potential student should be directed to consider their conscious motivation in depth. If this is related to their own psychologically wounding experiences, they should be encouraged to further explore this with a professional prior to applying. This will allow those who are not sufficiently through their experiences to consider working on them before again considering commencing the course.

The trainer who is conducting interviews with potential counselling or psychotherapy students should also keep in mind the results from this research. There is a 74% chance that the interviewee has experienced a psychological wound which has, to some extent, led to their desire to become a „healer‟. The interviewer‟s job should be to discover if there is a wound, and if so how the person feels about it. Females (especially of „White‟ origin or aged 51-60), males over 60 and those applying to a „counselling‟ course are significantly more likely to be „wounded healers‟. There is no greater likelihood that a „wounded healer‟ will wish to train in a particular approach.

As the existence of psychological wounding leading to career choice is evident, it is recommended that counselling and psychotherapy courses devote time specifically to address this issue, to exploring these wounds, and, to assist with the healing process. Day (1994) shows his belief in this concept by writing, “it would seem fruitful for us to see the students in terms of their own life stories, as people in the making whose motivations for involvement in counselling and psychotherapy should be taken very seriously” (p109).

5.6 Further Research

Limitations of this study, outcomes not originally in the research plan and other studies which could follow on from this one, have borne ideas for further research.

There were no significant differences found with age, ethnicity and therapeutic approach in relation to the question, „did an(y) event(s) which psychologically wounded you in any way inspire you to become a counsellor and psychotherapist?‟ Asking this question again with a wider spread of respondents could show significant differences.

No questions were asked regarding demographic factors in relation to religion and country of residence. Investigating the questions of this research with these demographic factors could show significant results. This would further the knowledge of the counsellor and psychotherapist as a wounded healer initiated by this research. There is opportunity for further in-depth qualitative research into people‟s wounding experiences, and how this led to their decision to train as a counsellor or psychotherapist. This would give a more thorough insight into this area of the research than has been appropriate in this study. The concept of the wounded healer was made clear to respondents for the purpose of this study. There exists much literature describing the wounded healer, and explaining the philosophy behind it (e.g. Downing, 1990; Jackson, 2001; Crystal, 2006). There is opportunity for further investigation into how counsellors and psychotherapists perceive the concept of the wounded healer in relation to the therapeutic profession. How do they define it? Do they believe in it? What does it mean to them?

There are significantly more females than males in the counselling and psychotherapy professions. Reporting on the „Posttraumatic Growth Inventory‟, Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) state that „women tend to report more benefits than do men‟ (p1) when they have experienced a traumatic event. There is opportunity for investigation into whether the reason that there are more females than males in the counselling and psychotherapy professions is because women experience more benefit from traumatic events than men. Are males less likely than females to use their wounding experiences for therapeutic purposes? There is also opportunity for investigation into whether females are more likely to experience psychological wounding than males (non-career specific).

Qualitative data from this study suggested that experiencing counselling or psychotherapy as a client leads to becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which this is true, and how this varies with demographic factors. Comparing these statistics with the success of counselling and psychotherapy students at university could provide universities with useful guides as to „best fit‟ students. Beichman‟s (2001) study found that one respondent entered counselling training with the intention of helping couples experiencing relationship difficulties. This was a direct result of 64

the respondent‟s own experience with his/her divorced parents. Qualitative data from this study also suggests that a person‟s psychologically wounding experience can dictate a speciality in that area. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which this is true and how this varies with demographic factors. What is the likelihood of wishing to work in the therapeutic field which reflects one‟s own psychologically wounding experiences? What is the likelihood of wishing to avoid this field? What are the reasons for both of these?

Adler (1972), Deutsch (1984 and 1985), Groesbeck & Taylor (1977) and Scott & Hawk (1986) all believe that therapists are psychologically wounded people who use their occupations to heal these wounds. This has also been suggested by qualitative data from this research. Sussman (1992) explores the unconscious reasons which attract people to a career as a therapist. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which people train, or apply to train, as a counsellor or psychotherapist to heal their own wounds and how this varies with demographic factors. When this is true to what extent is the decision is conscious or unconscious? Dunne (2000) writes in the biography, „Carl Jung: wounded healer of the soul‟, that it is only the doctor who is wounded, who has the ability to heal others. Jung's colleague, Marie Louise Von Franz, is reported to have believed that the wounded healer is an important part of all genuine healing procedures (Levy, 1999). Sussman (1992) agrees with this concept that one has to be wounded to be able to heal, specifically in relation to the ability to be empathic and compassionate. Qualitative data from this research shows that many respondents consider their psychologically wounding experiences have improved their ability as a therapist. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which counsellors and psychotherapists believe their wounding experience improves their client work (therapistbased research), and further investigation into the extent to which counsellors and psychotherapists wounding experience actually improves their client work (client-based research). Does the non-wounded healer believe in a benefit of being wounded? A respondent of this study reported that it was witnessing a loved one experiencing counselling which prompted him into a career as a counsellor. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which the counselling or psychotherapy of another leads people to become counsellors or psychotherapists. Does witnessing somebody helped by therapy prompt an interest in it as a career? 65

This study highlighted differences in the level of wounding by approach. Does training approach (e.g. person centred, cognitive behavioural, transactional analysis) steer towards wounding? Are therapists from certain approaches more likely to be, admit to being or be aware that they are a wounded healer?

Beichman (2001) reported that 45% of respondents (who provided qualitative data), made reference to the significance that their previous professions had on their decision to become a counsellor. These professions all involved „helping people‟ to a large extent. Some respondents of this research also stated that they worked (paid or voluntary) in „helping‟ professions prior to training as a counsellor or psychotherapist. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which working in a helping profession leads to becoming a counsellor and psychotherapist.

Rippere and Williams (1985) and Dornhoefer (2001) are some of many who have written about the psychologically wounding experiences of various mental health workers. Fussell (1988) found that psychotherapists are more likely to be psychologically wounded than physicists. This researcher was a physicist and marketing executive before her psychologically wounding experience, and a counsellor and psychotherapist afterwards. Does profession (e.g. counsellor, psychotherapist, gp, nurse) steer towards recognising wounding? Are some professions likely to contain more wounded healers than others? Are people from some professions more likely to admit / be aware that they are a wounded healer?

Does the counsellor or psychotherapist feel their profession is at risk if they are considered wounded healers by other health professionals? Or can it be helpful? What is the comparison of views by profession? Are there some professions where it is more acceptable to be considered a wounded healer, by professional peers, than others? What does the public think if their counsellor, psychotherapist, gp, nurse etc is a wounded healer? What is the comparison of public views by profession? The results of these studies could be very beneficial to the publicity departments of health services, public sector services, etc.

Qualitative data from this study highlighted that some counsellors and psychotherapists feel they were once failed by their local mental health system. There is opportunity for further investigation into the extent to which feeling disengaged with the health service prompts people to become counsellors or psychotherapists. The results of this study could highlight to 66

health services the importance of supporting the mental ill-health sufferers in their care, and the measures that can be taken by patients to â&#x20AC;&#x17E;cureâ&#x20AC;&#x; themselves.

6. CONCLUSION

This study investigated the extent to which psychological wounds inspire counsellors and psychotherapists to become wounded healers, the significance of these wounds on career choice, the causes of these wounds and the overall significance of demographic factors.

An on-line questionnaire was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data (253 respondents). A pilot study and a verification study were conducted. A pluralist approach was used with the quantitative data analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the qualitative data analysed using thematic analysis, with a grounded theory approach.

This study reports that 73.9% of therapists have experienced one or more wounding experiences leading to career choice and 26.1% have not. In relation to the significance of the event(s) on career choice, when merging „probably chosen career regardless‟ with „possibly chosen career regardless‟, and „unlikely chosen career regardless‟ with „not considered career otherwise‟, there is a slight majority in relation to the former. There are no significant differences in relation to demographic factors.

In relation to whether one or more psychologically wounding experiences led to the choice of a career as a therapist, there is a significant difference within designation, gender, grouping gender and ethnicity, and, grouping gender and age, as follows: o Females are more likely than males to report this. o Counsellors more likely than psychotherapists to report this. o White males are significantly more likely to report this than ethnic minority males. o White and ethnic minority females are equally likely to report this. o Ethnic minority males are significantly least likely to report this. o Females 51-60 and males over 60 are equally likely to report this. o Females 51-60 and males over 60 are the most likely to report this. o Females under 30 and males 30-50 are equally likely to report this. o Males 51-60 are least likely to report this.

o Males over 60 are significantly more likely to report this than males under 60.

There are no significant differences within approach, ethnicity or age.

The majority of the wounds were caused by events experienced directly by the respondents (65%) as opposed to indirectly or both. Within demographic factors, the causes of the wounding experiences leading to career choice are not statistically significant.

The exact causes of the wounds vary enormously. The main categories are abuse, family life as a child, mental ill-health (own), social, family life as an adult, bereavement, mental illhealth (others), life threatening, physical ill-health (others), physical ill-health (own), and, other.

Many implications for the future of the therapeutic world have been highlighted. These focus mainly on the concept of the â&#x20AC;&#x17E;wounded healerâ&#x20AC;&#x;, and, counselling and psychotherapy training. Limitations of this study, outcomes not originally in the research plan and other factors have borne ideas for further research.

REFERENCES

Adler, G. (1972). Helplessness in the helpers. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 45, 315-326. Alan, G. (2003). A critique of using grounded theory as a research method: Portsmouth University, UK. Anti, E (1995, 27/05/06). Differences between counselling and psychotherapy, from http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/1171.html BACP (2005). List of Counselling and Psychotherapy Approaches. BACP Publications. Beehr, T. A., & O'Hara, M. (1987). Evaluation of occupational stress interventions. In S. V. Kasl. &. C. C. Cooper (Ed.), Stress and health: Issues in research methodology. London: Wiley. Beichman, J. (2001). A quantitative research study considering how counsellors perceive different factors to have been significant in influencing them to become counsellors and whether these vary with gender, age and approach. University of Brighton, Brighton. Bondi, L. (2004). What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy? COSCA. Brammer, L., & Shostrom, E, &. (1977). Therapeutic psychology: Fundamentals of counseling and psychotherapy. (Third ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bryant, C. G. A., (1985). Positivism in Social Theory and Research. New York: St. Martin‟s Press. Bryman, A. (1984). The debate about quantitative and qualitative research: a question of method or epistemology? British Journal of Sociology, 235, 75 – 92. Chan, E. (2003). Asian-Americans face cultural barrier to counseling. New York Times. Clarkson, P. (1997). Chiron‟s academy. Self & Society, 24(6).

Corey and Corey, M. (1993). Becoming a Helper. Brookes/Cole. Collins (2006, 17/06/06). Dictionary Search, from http://www.collins.co.uk/wordexchange/ Crystal, E. (2006, 20/05/06). The wounded healer, from http://www.crystalinks.com/woundedhealer.html Dar, R, Serlin, R.C, and Omer, H (1994). Misuse of statistical tests in three decades of psychotherapy research. Journal of Counselling and Clinical Psychology, 62(1), 7582. David, A. (1994, September). Nvqs counselling training and accreditation: A philosophical enquiry. In Seminar presented at the British Association for Counsellingâ&#x20AC;&#x;s 18 th Annual Training Conference. Keele University. Day, J. (1994). Obligation and motivation: Obstacles and resources for counsellor well-being and effectiveness. Journal of Counselling and Development, 73. Deutsch, C. J. (1984). Self-reported sources of stress among psychotherapists. Professional Psychology, 15, 833-845. Deutsch, C. J. (1985). A survey of therapists' personal problems and treatment. Professional Psychology, 16, 305-315. Dornhoefer, J. (2001). Deconstructing the ailment: One health care professional's experience as the patient. Social Work in Health Care, 33(2). Downing, C. (1990). Only the wounded healer heals: The testimony of Greek mythology. Soundings, 73(4), 551-573. Dryden, W., & Spurling, L (Ed.). (1989). On becoming a psychotherapist. London and New York: Tavistock / Routledge. Dunne, C. (2000). Carl Jung: Wounded healer of the soul. (First ed.). New York: Parabola Books. EOC (2005, 12/02/05). Equal Opportunities Monitoring from http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/application_form.pdf

Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using spss. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: SAGE Publications. Finch, J., Mattson, D. & Moore, J. (1993). Selection of a theory of counselling: Personal and professional congruency for counselling students. TCA Journal, 21(1), 97-102. Frankham, J. (1994). The journey to becoming a psychotherapist: A grounded theory approach. MSc. dissertation. Fussell, F. (1988). The influence of childhood experiences on the choice of psychotherapy as a career. University of Georgia. Gage, E. M., & Goodman, R. E. (1975). Vocational preference of daughters of alcoholics. The Vocational Guidance Quarterly(24), 41-47. Galloway, K (1997, 17/06/06). Questionnaire Design and Analysis from http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~kate/qmcweb/qcont.htm Glaser, B. G. (1992). Emergence vs forcing: Basics of grounded theory. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press. Goldberg, C. (1986). On being a psychotherapist: The journey of the healer. New York: Gardner Press. Goss, S. a. M., D. (1997). A call for a pluralist epistemological understanding in the assessment and evaluation of counselling. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 25(2), 189-198. Groesbeck, C. J., & Taylor, B. (1977). The psychiatrist as wounded physician. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 37, 131-139. Hacking, I. (1981). Experimentation and scientific realism. Philosophical Topics, 13. Harris, B. M. (1975). Recalled childhood experiences of effective child psychotherapists. California School of Professional Psychology. Jackson, S. W. (2001). The wounded healer. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 75(1), 1-36. Jenson, J (2006, 06/06/05). The recovering counselor as a wounded healer, from

http://www.counselormagazine.com/pfv.asp?aid=The_Recovering_Counselor_as_Wo unded_Healer.asp Jung, C. G., & Hull, R. F. C. (translator). (1966). The psychology of the transference. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Kirkpatrick, G. N., Katsiaficas & Emery, M. L. (1978). Critical theory and the limits of sociological positivism. In Transforming sociology: Red Feather Institute. Lawson, Gaushall, McCune & McCune. (1995). Perception of counselor behaviour & current intergenerational family relationships. Counsellor Education & Supervision, 34. Levy, P (1999, 17/06/06). The Wounded Healer, from www.newconnexion.net/article/0599/wounded.html Lomas, P (1981). The case for personal psychotherapy. O.U.P. Marlow, S. W. (1985). Parent-child role inversion as an antecedent to the occupational choice of clinical psychology. California School of Professional Psychology. McConnaughy, E. A. (1987). The person of the therapist in psychotherapeutic practice. Psychotherapy, 24(3), 303-314. McLeod, J. (2003). Doing counselling research. (Second ed.). London. Thousand Oaks. New Delhi.: SAGE Publications. McLeod, J. McLeod, J. (1993). The relationship between personal philosophy and effectiveness in counsellors. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 6(2), 121-129. Meer, L. (1998). A qualitative research study considering how trainee student counsellors perceive their childhood experiences influenced their decision to train., University of Brighton. Menninger, K. (1957). Psychological factors in the choice of medicine as a profession. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 21. Milton, J. (2004). Making sense of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. London. MIND. Morris, T. (1998). How counsellors choose their therapeutic orientation: A phenomenological

approach. MSc dissertation. Neimeyer, G. J., Prichard, S., Lyddon, W. J., and Sherrard, P. A. D. (1993). The role of epistemic style in counselling preference and orientation. Journal of Counselling and Development, 71, 515-523. Newman, B. (1993). Factors associated with trainee therapists selection of their theoretical orientation: World views, mental health values and spirituality. MSc dissertation. Oppenheim, A. N. (1985). Questionnaire design and attitude measurement. (second ed.). London: Heinemann. Powers, C. (1992). Psychoanalysts and choice of profession recalled early maternal-child relationships. Californian school of professional psychology. Racusin, G. R., Abramowitz, S, I and Winter, W. D. (1981). Becoming a therapist: Family dynamics and career choice. Professional Psychology, 12, 271-279. Rippere, V., & Williams, R. (Ed.). (1985). Wounded healers: Mental health worker's experiences of depression. Chichester, New York, Brisbane, Toronto and Singapore: John Wiley and Sons. Roe, A. (1957). Early determinates of career choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 4, 212-217. Roe, A., & Seigleman, M. A. (1963). A parent-child's relations questionnaire. Child Development, 34, 335-369. Scott, C. D., & Hawk, J. (1986). Heal thyself: The health of health care professionals. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Smith, A. D. (1987). The ethnic origins of nations. Oxford: Blackwell. Smith, J. J. (1989). The formation and expression of judgements in educational assessment. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 13, 115-119. Stone, E. F. (1986). Research methods in industrial and organisational psychology: Selected issues and trends. In C. L. R. Cooper, I (Ed.), International review of industrial and organisational psychology. London: Wiley. 74

Sussman, M. B. (1992). A curious calling. Unconscious motivations for practicing psychotherapy. Northvale, New Jersey, London: Jason Aronson Inc. Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of traumatic stress, 9(3), 455-471. Thomas, G. & James, D. (In press) Reinventing grounded theory: Some questions about theory, ground and discovery. British Educational Research Journal. Von Wright, G. H. (1971). Explanation and understanding. London: Routledge. Watts, Trusty, Canada & Harvill. (1995). Perceived early childhood family influence & counselor effectiveness â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an exploratory study. Counselor Education and Supervision, 35. Wikipedia. (2006, 20/05/06). Wikipedia online encyclopaedia, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

APPENDIX A – PGDip CLASS QUESTIONNAIRE

Wounded Healer Questionnaire Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. It should take approximately 5 minutes and will contribute towards the completion of my MSc research project. The „wounded healer‟ in this study is a concept relating to counsellors / psychotherapists („healers‟) who have been „psychologically wounded‟ in some way. In this instance the definition of a „psychological wound‟ is: the effect of one or more traumatic event(s) that had significant emotional impact on you.

If this concept does not apply to you please do not be discouraged as this is also relevant for the study.

Please answer the questions as far you feel comfortable. The questionnaire is completely anonymous. I will receive no information about you other than that written on the form.

As the following questions may ask you to touch on painful or sensitive material, please think about how you will look after yourself. If you do feel any distress please contact a counsellor, supervisor, colleague, peer, friend, relative, etc. for support. If you would like support from me (a trained counsellor) you may e-mail me at a.barr@strath.ac.uk and I will phone / e-mail you as soon as I am able.

Please choose the relevant answers and feel free to add further comments where appropriate. If there is any question that you would rather not answer, simply leave it blank.

As participation is voluntary, if you do not wish to complete this questionnaire please tick this box.

1. Did an event(s) which ‘psychologically wounded’ you in any way inspire you to become a counsellor? Yes

Please continue onto question 2.

Please continue onto question 4.

2. Where would you place the significance of the event(s) on the following scale? a) I would probably have become a counsellor / psychotherapist regardless. The event(s) helped my decision in a small way. b) I would possibly have become a counsellor / psychotherapist regardless. The event(s) helped my decision to become clear. c) I was undecided whether to become a counsellor / psychotherapist. The event(s) was / were the deciding factor. d) It is unlikely that I would have become a counsellor / psychotherapist otherwise. The event(s) was / were an important factor in helping me make my decision. e) The event(s) was / were 100% responsible for my decision. I would not have considered the career otherwise.

3. Did the event(s) happen directly or indirectly to you? For example: Directly – you were diagnosed with a serious illness. Indirectly – a loved one was diagnosed with a serious illness. Directly

Indirectly

Both

4. Gender. Male

Female

5. Age when you entered counselling training. Under 30

30-40

41-50

51-60

Over 60

6. Ethnicity White

Chinese

Caribbean

Bangladeshi

Indian

Mixed

African

Pakistani

Other. Please Specify _________________________ 77

7. Do you have any other comments?

The questionnaire is now complete. Thank you very much.

Any questions / comments can be e-mailed to: a.barr@strath.ac.uk.

APPENDIX B – INTERNET QUESTIONNAIRE

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR INTERNET QUESTIONNAIRE As it is not possible to submit the web page as part of the MSc, the following notes further explain the process of completing the internet questionnaire.

Pre-Question If the box is ticked beside: „If you do not wish to complete this questionnaire please tick this box‟ the rest of the questions disappear and the „submit‟ button is shown.

Question 3 If „No‟ is checked, questions 4 to 6 disappear.

Question 2 - Wording in the drop-down boxes:

Cognitive Analytical

Cognitive Behavioural

Eclectic

Cognitive

Jungian

Psychoanalysis

Person-Centred

Psychodynamic

Primal

Adlerian

NLP

Psychosynthesis

Humanistic

Re-Birthing

Gestalt

Behavioural

Existential

Integrated

Systemic

Hypnotherapy

Transpersonal

Other

If â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Otherâ&#x20AC;&#x; is chosen, a box appears to type in the relevant details.

Question 9 - Wording in the drop-down boxes:

White Bangladeshi African

Indian Caribbean Pakistani

Chinese Mixed Other

If „Other‟ is chosen, a box appears to type in the relevant details.

Question 10 If „Some‟ is chosen, a box appears to type in the relevant details.

APPENDIX C – CHI SQUARED ANALYSIS When using chi-squared testing, SPSS produces an estimate of the precise probability of obtaining a chi-squared statistic greater than the result of the following equation by chance:

where, and, 2

statistic is then checked against a distribution with known properties, the degree of freedom (df).

df = (r-1)(c-1)

where, r = number of rows, c = number of columns. The critical values of df can be found on the „chi-squared distribution table‟. If the observed value is larger than the critical value, the relationship between the variables is significant.

Spss examines whether there is an association between the 2 variables by calculating the chi-squared statistic and its significance value. The results are said to be statistically significantly different if p< 0.05, where p = significance value, or error level. This is because when p< 0.05 the null hypothesis can be rejected. The null hypothesis occurs when the variables are independent of each other.

When reported, chi-squared and the associated degrees of freedom are written as follows:  2

df).

APPENDIX D – UNVARIANT ANALYSIS Firstly the extent of the variability between results when the experimental condition is ignored is calculated as follows:

where SST = variability between results, sgrand = the variance of all the results when the data groups are ignored and N = number of results. Next the sum of squares is calculated, separating the two independent variables and the variance created by the interaction of these variables.

where

= the mean of all the results,

= the mean of each variant, n is the

number of results in each group and the interaction of the 2 variables is: SSAxB = SSM – SSA – SSB The residual sum of squares (SSR) represents the individual differences in the variance that can not be explained by factors that were systematically manipulated.

Finally, F-ratios are compared against critical values based on their degrees of freedom, to show whether the effects have arisen by chance or are an effect of experimental manipulations.

where,

The degrees of freedom (df) are valued at 1 less than the number of results per group. If an F ratio exceeds the corresponding critical value, it is significant. SPSS calculates the F ratios and the exact significance of each. When reported the degrees of freedom are written as F(variable, error). When shown graphically, non-parallel lines indicate a significant interaction.

APPENDIX E - ETHICAL APPROVAL APPLICATION University of Strathclyde

Department of Educational Studies

Investigations on Human Beings Ethical Approval Form

This Ethical Approval Form must be completed for each new proposed study, project or programme of research. Once approval has been awarded, the applicant can assume continuing approval for the use of the same procedures in further studies. If proposed methodology changes significantly in the present study, a new form should be submitted.

Name of Applicant …………………………...Alison Barr Position of Applicant (e.g. student, staff member, etc.)… Student (MSc Counselling)

Project title:

Counsellor‟s connection with „The Wounded Healer‟.

Basic aims of the research:

A questionnaire study examining the extent to which counsellors consider themselves to be „wounded healers‟, and how this varies with demographics. There is a possibility that the study may also investigate related issues.

Describe the intended participants in the investigation and means of recruitment and access

I am hoping to carry out this study with approximately 200 counsellors. I will choose the 4 most common approaches in the UK, and target ~100 counsellors each from these approaches (with the assumption of a 50% response rate). My current guess is

that the 4 most common approaches will include Person Centred, CBT, Psychodynamic and one other. I will post notices explaining the nature of the research in a range of places, e.g. newsletters, journals (e.g. CPJ), websites (e.g. Person-Centred Therapy Scotland, COSCA). I also hope that Strathclyde University, Abertay University and the University of East Anglia will be able so send a mail shot to their previous Person Centred Counselling students. Interested parties will be referred to a website where they can complete the questionnaire on-line and anonymously.

To ensure that the questionnaire asks relevant, interesting and topical questions, a short qualitative analysis will be carried out prior to its completion. This will involve 4 counsellors, one from each approach, who will be recruited locally. The interviews will take approximately 20 minutes and will focus on areas of interest around the topic of the wounded healer.

Outline the proposed methodological design of the study and the procedures to be used with the participants.

I will use a questionnaire where the majority of the questions will be closed, and few open. The data from the questionnaire will be analysed statistically using a combination of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The qualitative data gathered for questionnaire construction use will be analysed using very simple coding.

Is there any risk of physical or psychological harm or discomfort?

Small

If yes, please expand.

Due to the personal nature of the interviews and questionnaire, there is a possibility that participants may find the experience distressing. For this reason, it will be

ensured that they are fully informed of the nature of the study prior to taking part, are reminded that participation is not essential, and will be able to leave the study at any point. Participants will also be advised that if any issues are brought up for them by the study, to seek support from their counsellor, supervisor, peers, colleagues, friends, family, etc. For reasons of participant confidentiality, the website will be designed in such a way that the completed questionnaires will be anonymously submitted to the researcher.

Outline procedures for obtaining informed consent. (In addition, if participants are children, outline procedures for obtaining parental consent.)

The interviewees will be asked to sign a consent from.

If you will require access to information about participants from other parties (e.g. doctors, teachers), please give details.

N/A

Are there any other ethical issues raised by the intended investigation?

Approximate start date of the investigation:

January 2005.

10.

DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, affirm that this proposal is in accordance with the University of Strathclyde Code of Practice on Investigations on Human Beings. I also affirm that in carrying out the intended investigation I will comply with the relevant policies of the University of Strathclyde regarding personal and professional conduct.

Signature of applicant:

Notes 1) Completed forms should be returned to the Convenor of the Ethics Committee, Department of Educational Studies, or emailed to phyllis.fisher@strath.ac.uk 2) Applicants wishing to gain access to participants through other institutions (e.g. Local Authority Department of Education) must obtain separate appropriate consents.

Authorised/Approved by: .............................................................................................................

Date: ......................................................................................................................................... ....

APPENDIX F â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ODDS RATIO CALCULATION odds (female yes) = female yes / female no = 145/37 = 3.92 odds (male yes) = male yes / male no = 39/28 = 1.39 odds ratio = odds (female yes)/ odds (male yes) = 3.92/1.39 = 2.82

APPENDIX G â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FULL CODING ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WOUNDS THAT LED TO CAREER CHOICE Three categories are placed in two headings as there is a clear overlap. These are shown in italics. As the values are very small, this has little effect on the category percentages. The percentages are rounded off to one decimal place.

Psychological Wound

% of Respondents

abuse

55.6

sexual abuse / rape psychological / verbal abuse / bullying physical abuse non-specified abuse abuse of loved one family life as a child lack of parental attention / care alcohol addiction within family parental relationship problems missing parent caring for parent / family member as a child not accepted by family / dysfunctional family violence within family physical abuse of others in family non-specified addictions within family raised in authoritarian home non-specified childhood traumas non-specified abuse of others in family breakdown of family unit lack of parental love difficulty with own adoption mental abuse of others in family isolated childhood discovery of deceased family member abortion as a teenager trauma around residency mental ill health - own depression (inc. post natal depression)

20.0 15.0 10.0 8.8 1.9 46.9 9.4 6.3 3.8 3.1 3.1 2.5 2.5 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 39.4 13.8

post traumatic stress disorder psychotic experiences suicidal thoughts / attempts eating disorder non-specified mental ill-health low self esteem substance abuse alcohol abuse Breakdown self-harm Sectioned burn out abused someone obsession with another person Anxiety social communication problems non-specified social difficulties Loneliness socialisation of women in patriarchal society feeling very tuned into others loss of status redundancy / loss of career / career burn out non-acceptance / judgement by others inability to form healthy romantic relationships struggling with identity desire to be accepted spiritual issues learning difficulties Sexuality feeling damaged by religion narrowly avoiding a jail sentence Shy experience of unempathic relationships

3.1 3.1 3.1 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 1.9 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 36.3 5.0 4.4 3.8 3.1 3.1 3.1 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6

family life as an adult relationship breakdown / divorce involvement in destructive relationships post natal depression stillbirth or miscarriage addiction within family single parent stresses of looking after children inability to become a parent death of a child abortion as an adult partner sexually abused children

28.1 9.4 5.6 2.5 2.5 1.9 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.6 0.6

bereavement

21.9

death - non suicide

18.8

parent other loved one stillbirth or miscarriage Partner non specified Child

6.9 3.8 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.6

death â&#x20AC;&#x201C; suicide

3.1

other loved one parent Child other

1.3 0.6 0.6 0.6

non-specific bereavement

1.9

mental ill health - others parent(s) family member - not specified Child other loved one life threatening serious / potentially terminal illness / injury life threatening event primary witness of terrorist activity other non-specific adult trauma

11.3 1.9 1.3 0.6 9.4 5.0 2.5 1.9 7.5 7.5

physical ill health - others parent Child Partner other loved one non-specified family member physical ill health - own serious / potentially terminal illness / injury

6.3 1.9 1.9 1.3 0.6 0.6 5.0 5.0