'After my breakdown': Implications for counsellors of accounts of change in self-understanding during recovery |
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| Authors: | Keith Purdie Jim McLennan |
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| Institution: | 1. Human Resources Development Division, Inter-Church Trade and Industry Mission , Melbourne;2. Psychology Department , Swinburne University of Technology , Melbourne, Australia |
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| Abstract: | In this exploratory study, 22 individuals who understood themselves to have had a nervous breakdown were interviewed and their experiences were compared with those of another group of 10 individuals who survived very stressful life events without ‘breaking down’. It was concluded that a nervous breakdown can be understood as an individual's experience of the collapse of his or her framework of self-understanding. Also that an important aspect of recovery from a breakdown involves the search for, and appropriation of, a new and more viable understanding of self. Counselling strategies aimed at promoting this process are discussed. |
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