Grounded theory research for the experience and the recovery process from exhaustion of professional counselors for sexual harassment in the army
Authors:   Korean Association For Learner-Centered Curriculum And Instruction, Moon KyongNam , Lee YoonJoo 
Published: February 2025

Objectives The purpose of this study is to help the professional counselors for sexual harassment to devise sol utions for over-tiredness prevention, to provide practical help for civil supervisors who oversee professional coun selors for sexual assault in the army and to be used as a reference for policy and system improvement by estab lishing the basis of a concrete theory through the study for the experience and process of exhaustion and re cuperation of professional counselor for sexual assault.
Methods For this, the interviews were conducted for 10 people who have worked for one to seven years as a counselor for sexual harassment. The data was gathered and analyzed according the grounded theory and the concept and categorization through open coding as well as categorization and process through axial coding be came a research paradigm. The core category was set and description of story outline, type analysis and situation model were designed by performing selective coding.
Results 137 concepts, 29 subcategories and 12 categories were developed from open coding. It was found from reclassification of experience and procedure for burnout and recovery as a paradigm with axial coding that the cas ual condition which is recognition of burnout state experiences the central phenomenon which is to go steadily downhill, while affected by the situational condition which is the cause and opportunity. For the counselors for sexual abuse, this central phenomenon finally changes into recovery from burnout with the action/interaction strategy which is opportunity for convalescence from exhaustion, under the the arbitration condition which is main factor helpful for recovery from burnout. Through this, the professional counselors for sexual abuse, the core cat egory, are fully recovered with their own effort and help from other people as a momentum, establish their identi ties again and their performance is improved after experiencing burnout. In the process, the type of research par ticipants were classified into four by setting effort of each person and help from other people as a condition and configuring the relation among conditions. The four types are ‘recover from burnout’ in which people regain their confidence after thinking they are fully recovered, ‘alone’, in which people try to overcome by themselves, ‘hold-up’ in which people strive to recover while leaning on help from other people, and ‘not recover until now’ in which people have not been restored until now due to the trauma which is caused by repeated burnout and recovery. Besides this type analysis for recovery process from burnout, how the central phenomenon which is ex haustion experience going steadily downhill interacts with personal, social and organization factors is also ex plained as a situation model. Through this, the basis of the theory was established.
Conclusions The professionals for sexual harassment consulting can recognize their state and develop their own solutions to prevent burnout with the study for the experience and the process of the recovery and exhaustion of the professional counselors for sexual harassment in the army. In addition, this study can give practical help to civil supervisors who regularly supervise professional counselors for sexual harassment. Furthermore, this study can be used as a basic reference to reform the policy and system for the working condition improvement and welfare of the professionals for sexual harassment consulting on the organizational level.