Responding to Client Emotional Expression; A Study From the Perspective of Self-Reported Securely-Attached Novice Counsellors

v Acknowledgements vi CHAPTER I – Introduction 1 CHAPTER II – Literature Review 7 Models of Counsellor Development 7 Challenges of Novice Counsellors 14 Responding to Client Emotional Expression 16 Attachment 24 The Present Study 30 CHAPTER III – Methodology 31 Research Methodology 31 Research Methods 35 CHAPTER IV – Results 49 Counsellors’ Internal Processing of Clients’ Emotional Expression 49 Counsellors’ Actions in Response to Clients’ Emotional Expression 65 CHAPTER V – Discussion 81 Summary of Results 81 RESPONDING TO EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION iii Comparing Results to the Literature 82 Implications for Responding to Client Emotional Expression 88 Limitations of the Study 92 Future Directions for Research 94 References 96 Appendix A – Recruitment Flyer 109 Appendix B – Consent Form 110 Appendix C – Letter of Information 112 Appendix D – Demographic Questionnaire 114 Appendix E – Hazan and Shaver’s Measure of Attachment 115 Appendix F – Semi-Structured Interview Protocol Questions 116 Appendix G – Extended Results: Complete Code List for First Overarching Theme 120 Appendix H – Extended Results: Complete Code List for Second Overarching Theme 134 RESPONDING TO EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION iv List of Tables and Figures Table 1 – Example of Phase 2: Generating Initial Codes Across the Data Set 44 Table 2 – Example of Main and Subtheme 47 Table 3 – Counsellors’ Internal Processing of Clients’ Emotional Expression 50 Table 4 – Counsellors’ Actions in Response to Clients’ Emotional Expression 66 Table 5 – Complete Code List for First Overarching Theme Counsellors' Internal Processing of Clients' Emotional Expression 120 Table 6 – Complete Code List for Second Overarching Theme Counsellors' Actions in Response to Clients' Emotional Expression 134 RESPONDING TO EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION v Abstract Client emotional expression in session is valuable as it promotes clients’ sense of agency, increases their capacity for introspection, and is linked to decreases in depressive symptoms. By extension, understanding counsellors’ responses to client emotional expression is relevant. In the current study, retrospective accounts of self-reported securely-attached novice counsellors were collected for the purpose of exploring how they responded to client emotional expression. To obtain meaningful and descriptive accounts of the data, a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used as the research methodology. Resultant themes showed that novice counsellors reported experiencing their own covert and overt emotional reactions in response to clients’ emotional expression. They also reported struggling with the decision to use their preferred response. The results provided insights into how the task of responding to client emotion was complex for novice counsellors. Analyses and understanding of these results have potential developmental and educational implications.Client emotional expression in session is valuable as it promotes clients’ sense of agency, increases their capacity for introspection, and is linked to decreases in depressive symptoms. By extension, understanding counsellors’ responses to client emotional expression is relevant. In the current study, retrospective accounts of self-reported securely-attached novice counsellors were collected for the purpose of exploring how they responded to client emotional expression. To obtain meaningful and descriptive accounts of the data, a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used as the research methodology. Resultant themes showed that novice counsellors reported experiencing their own covert and overt emotional reactions in response to clients’ emotional expression. They also reported struggling with the decision to use their preferred response. The results provided insights into how the task of responding to client emotion was complex for novice counsellors. Analyses and understanding of these results have potential developmental and educational implications. RESPONDING TO EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION vi