Investigating How Trainee and Qualified Counsellors Navigate the Mental Toll of Working in a Hospice Setting.
Aim: Existing psychological literature regarding how counsellors navigate the mental toll of working in a hospice setting signifies that there are substantial gaps in empirical knowledge and understanding. To address this, the study aimed to explore lived experiences of counsellors working in a hosp...
| Published in: | Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 1 - 13 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Sep2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=188233702&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 188233702 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 14733145 TFX jtl: Counselling & Psychotherapy Research issn: 14733145 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2025 vid: 25 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 188233702 188233702 188233702 10.1002/capr.70037 188233702 ppf: 1 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Investigating How Trainee and Qualified Counsellors Navigate the Mental Toll of Working in a Hospice Setting. aug: au: Jones, Olivia Garrod, Teresa affil: University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK sug: subj: Mental Health Counselors Psychosocial Factors Interns and Residents Psychosocial Factors Burnout, Professional Psychosocial Factors Compassion Fatigue Psychosocial Factors Hospices Work Environment Support, Psychosocial Life Experiences Human Qualitative Studies Semi-Structured Interview Thematic Analysis Counseling Emotional Exhaustion Self Care Reflection Hospice Care Stress, Occupational Convenience Sample Empathy Grief Professional Boundaries Workload Home Visits Telehealth Hardiness Peer Group Organizational Culture United Kingdom Male Female Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software Adult Middle Age Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male Female ab: Aim: Existing psychological literature regarding how counsellors navigate the mental toll of working in a hospice setting signifies that there are substantial gaps in empirical knowledge and understanding. To address this, the study aimed to explore lived experiences of counsellors working in a hospice, including how they experienced and responded to the mental toll and how they were supported. Method: An inductive, qualitative approach was adopted to discover counsellors' unique lived experiences from the frame of reference of the experiencing persons. Six individuals participated in semi‐structured interviews, which were analysed using the heuristic framework. Through immersion, incubation, illumination, explication and reflexivity, significant findings between interview transcripts were determined. Findings: Four themes were identified: (1) Emotional intensity of counselling in a hospice setting; (2) Self‐care considerations in navigating the mental toll; (3) The importance of reflection in processing counselling in a hospice setting; and (4) The significance of counsellors feeling supported mentally when working in a hospice setting. Conclusion: Participants were able to recognise the significant emotional burden of working in a hospice setting and had identified self‐care and reflection techniques to manage their own emotional health and well‐being. However, participants felt that more could be done to support them in this work, and called for changes in training, hospice settings and professional bodies, and from colleagues to provide the support they need. Recommendations: Core counselling training needs to embed self‐care and reflection as an integral part of their programmes, to ensure trainees are equipped to face the emotional demands of working in placement settings. Strong networks of open communication in these settings is vital to promote open dialogue regarding counsellors' mental well‐being. The introduction of peer support systems between novice and more experienced counsellors could assist in encouraging openness in how the work impacts personal mental health and well‐being. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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