On becoming textually active at Youthline,New Zealand

The phones hardly ring at Youthline New Zealand anymore; youth still have problems and seek help, but it mostly happens silently. This article reports on experiences of texting at a 24-hour crisis helpline for young people. To date, there has been no formal evidence base for this practice; however, for new practice, there never is. In prompting discussion, this article attends to the tight constraints that texting imposes, returning to the necessary and sufficient conditions of any effective therapeutic relationship particularly in regard to working with young people. New possibilities are demonstrated with emotional support being demonstrated even in the tightly constrained space of a text-based medium.     

The person-centred approach as an ideological discourse: a discourse analysis of person-centred counsellors' accounts on their way of being

In accord with humanistic psychology, the person-centred approach (PCA) highlights individuality and is characterised by subjectivity and freedom vs. objectivity and determination. This study endeavoured to define how person-centred counsellors position themselves within PCA. In order to employ a critical frame of mind, analysis focused on identifying constructions, contradictions and functions of language that pointed to power relations. This study revealed a power relation between PCA and the counsellors, displaying five discourses: the philosophical discourse, the discourse of freedom, the discourse of religion/spirituality, the discourse of militarism and the discourse of eros (love). PCA is thought to empower the client in relation to its respectful and non-directive, therapeutic framework. Analysis suggests that despite rhetorical endorsement of PCA as enabling, the approach has implications for subjectivity and practice regarding the counsellor him/herself. Adhesive attachments closely resembling religious and erotic ones seem responsible for dogmatic and militaristic phenomena as described by participants. Strong emotions such as pride and guilt are indicative of this adhesive investment. Furthermore, the analysis shows that as the discourse of freedom becomes embedded in the philosophical discourse of PCA, it has connotations of truth. Lastly, the discourse of religion/spirituality seems to organise PCA in terms of meaning coherence.     

Moments of empowerment: A qualitative analysis of positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling

38 positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling with six clients were analysed. The Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) method was used as the prime research tool. Clients were asked to identify positively experienced moments in the counselling session during a post‐session review interview. Clients and counsellors were invited to report on the feelings, perceptions and intentions they recalled experiencing during these moments. Three analyses were used to categorise the meaning and feeling quality of these moments, and a taxonomy of types of positively experienced episodes was also created. The most frequently reported positive client experiences were associated with empowerment, safety and insight. Other significant themes emerging from the analysis included: freedom in the relationship, shortcomings of the relationship, assurance of the relationship, unfolding of the client's personal meaning, and the importance of the counsellor's presence. Taxonomy of episodes revealed nine categories: four of them focused on the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship, and five focused on the empowerment of the client's self. These findings are discussed, and implications for theory and practice explored.     

Investigating occupational well-being and leadership from a person-centred longitudinal approach: congruence of well-being and perceived leadership

The overall objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate the association between perceived leadership and employee well-being from a person-centred approach utilizing the principles of the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513–524; Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. Review of General Psychology, 6, 307–324). First, we aimed to identify latent classes (i.e., subgroups) of employees that demonstrated similar mean levels of stability and change in occupational well-being (i.e., vigour and emotional exhaustion) across a mean time-lag of 14 months. Second, we ascertained whether employees in the latent well-being classes differed in their ratings of transformational, authentic, and abusive leadership behaviours across time. Self-report data were obtained from Finnish employees (N = 262, 88% women) working in a variety of municipal jobs. Using factor mixture modelling, four latent well-being classes were identified, indicating good (79%), low (10%), improving (8%), and deteriorating (3%) well-being. Congruence in both level and change of well-being and perceived leadership was found. That is, employees with better well-being across time reported more favourable leadership behaviours at both time points, and changes in employee well-being were reflected as changes in perceived leadership. The close relationship between perceived leadership and well-being is discussed from both a leader-centric (leadership as a resource) and a follower-centric (well-being as a resource) perspective.     

Positive psychological approaches to therapy

The term positive psychology has become widely used in recent years to refer to the new movement among psychologists who have turned their attention to positive human functioning. In this article we will review what the emerging field of positive psychology tells us about therapeutic practice. The positive psychology movement has led to a questioning of the fundamental assumptions underlying the practice of psychological therapy, and it is our view that the emerging positive psychology research is supportive of those therapeutic approaches which serve to facilitate the client's ability to hear their own inner voice.     

Experiential congruence: Qualitative analysis of client and counsellor narrative accounts of significant events in time‐limited person‐centred therapy

The concept of congruence represents a core theoretical construct in the development of client‐centred therapy, and remains fundamental to the practice of experiential approaches to psychotherapy. This study explores the ways in which congruence is experienced during significant moments of therapy. Client and counsellor accounts of moments of congruence/incongruence were collected from six cases of person‐centred counselling, and were analysed using a method of narrative analysis. It was found that participants experienced congruence in a variety of ways, suggesting that the construct does not describe a unitary phenomenon. Congruence was experienced as simultaneously intrapsychic and relational. The effective negotiation of episodes of incongruence comprised a necessary element of effective therapy. Further research into the nature of congruence may be valuable in contributing to new understandings of how therapeutic alliances are made, broken and repaired.     

Working with suicidal clients: The person‐centred counsellor's experience and understanding of risk assessment

Background: Client risk assessment within the person‐centred paradigm is traditionally seen as squarely opposed to its ethos. Aim: To determine how the person‐centred counsellor experiences and understands the issue of risk assessment within the confines of their work ethos. Method: Semi‐structured interviews with seven person‐centred counsellors using thematic analysis were conducted. Findings: Three main themes emerged following thematic analysis: The impact of the risk assessment process on self; The counsellor's experience of self, and The therapeutic process in relation to risk assessment. Discussion: The findings suggest that person‐centred counsellors conduct risk assessments taking a holistic approach involving not only individual risk predictors and characteristics of the client but also individual factors related to self.     

Theoretical counselling orientations of teachers in Hong Kong

Thirty-seven Chinese teacher-counsellors in Hong Kong were assessed on their theoretical orientations using a 45-item self-report checklist at the beginning of their advanced training and at the end of a course on counselling theories. Based on their ratings on nine theoretical orientations, it could be inferred that the beliefs and values of these teachers were most congruent with those of the Person-Centred approach. With ratings above a cutoff score as endorsement, teachers were found to endorse more orientations in the post-course assessment, reflecting an increase in flexibility in approach. Despite the fact that teachers’ reported self-efficacy toward helping significantly increased in post-course assessment, teachers’ membership in low, medium, and high self-efficacy groups did not have any bearing on teachers’ changes in flexibility in approach or changes in primary approach. Implications of the findings for understanding teacher-counsellors’ process of finding an integrative approach personally meaningful for their future practice are discussed.