Novice Counsellors Experiences of Self-Care: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

Self-care for psychotherapists is an important part of maintaining competence and preventing burnout. Early career therapists may be particularly vulnerable to stress at this stage of counsellor development. This qualitative study strove to understand the phenomenon of self-care by examining the experiences of five, female, novice, clinical counsellors. Assisted by the use of Atlas.ti software, interpretative phenomenological analysis of verbatim transcribed interviews identified the participant’s meanings of self-care, and generated two higher order themes; the layers of self-care and, transitions: challenges of self-care. Sub themes included, identifying a threshold, prioritizing self, the internal battle and reality of the work. Analysis also provided guidance for counselling training programs such as normalizing the challenge of self-care, preparing students for the transition to work, and engaging in ongoing discussions of self-care.