Department
Counseling and Human Services
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Date of Award
11-2021
Format
Degree Level
Ph.D.
LCSH subject
Counselors -- Training of; Counselors -- Supervision of; Mental health counselors; Family violence; Intimate partner violence
ISBN
979-8-209-89890-0
Medium
Manuscript
Proquest Document ID
2643939344
Identifier
1371297288 (OCLC)
School/University
St. Mary's University
Size or duration
x, 108 pages
Copyright date
2021
Document Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Ratliff, Dan
Second Advisor
Harper, Melanie
Third Advisor
Tubbs, Carolyn
Abstract
The heuristic inquiry-based phenomenological approach values focusing on a question or problem that has been a personal challenge in one’s quest to understand oneself and the phenomenon. Previous research has shown that counselors with a personal history of trauma who provide services to victims with a similar history report a range of negative consequences. The researcher utilized a heuristic research design to answer the following question: How do domestic violence counselors who have personal histories of trauma experience their clients who were victims of domestic violence? The methodology involved interviewing eight counselors, from whom four themes were identified: awareness of the counselor’s own experience, counselor’s demonstration of empathy, counselor’s self-care, and counselor’s countertransference. The counselors who were aware of their own traumatic experience conveyed empathy and demonstrated greater countertransference, which prompted the need for deliberate self-care activities. Four counselors who conveyed empathy demonstrated the overinvolvement form of countertransference, while counselors with low empathy demonstrated the distance or hostility form of countertransference.
Keywords: awareness of the counselor’s own experience, clients, counselors, counselor’s demonstration of empathy, counselor’s self-care, counselor’s countertransference, counselors with personal history of trauma, countertransference, domestic violence, effects and management of countertransference, empathy, heuristic inquiry, personal reactions, qualitative research design, survivors, trauma, vicarious traumatization, victim.
Recommended Citation
Edralin, Janis, "How domestic violence counselors with personal histories of trauma experience their clients who were victims of domestic violence: a heuristic study" (2021). Dissertations. 53.
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/dissertations/53
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.