Heuristic research

Breathing and relating: exploring a therapist’s heuristic experience

“…Regular, attentive supervision, one on one and in groups, where others' resonance with the research is shared in addition to critiquing and questioning, is recommended to help the heuristic researcher open to their blind spots (Ings, 2014;Key & Kerr, 2011;Rose & Loewenthal, 2006). Key and Kerr (2011) also suggest the researcher use the heuristic method of focusing to tune into their bodily responses to the research material and feedback, with the idea that blind spots might show up in a bodily sense as something that feels off, or not quite true.…”

“…I am interested in my subjective experience of my breathing. Qualitative research methodologies that centre the researcher's interpretation of their experience are phenomenological and heuristic (Rose & Loewenthal, 2006).…”

“…As a psychodynamic psychotherapist, The open-ended nature of heuristic enquiry, the freedom of researching beyond testing hypothesis, the invitation to feel into one's subjective depths, the search for 'resonance' and the close study of lived experience are all aspects of heuristic methodology that are well-suited to psychotherapy research (Frick, 1990;Kleining & Witt, 2000;Rose & Loewenthal, 2006;Stevens, 2006). Rose and Loewenthal (2006) recommend heuristic methodology specifically for studying psychotherapy practice, because heuristics allows the researcher a methodical and structured way to explore the "lived experience of therapy" from the point of view of therapist or client (p. 138). They compare heuristic methodology to other research methods, and conclude that no other research method is able to study "the [psychotherapy] consulting room as the research field" as effectively as heuristic methodology can (Rose & Loewenthal, 2006, p. 138).…”

“…The emphasis on my embodied experience in this research leads me to partially agree with Rose and Loewenthal's above statement (2006): heuristics provides a framework for me to deeply investigate my experience in the room with the client and furthermore, this framework is congruent with the skills I am developing as a psychotherapist. However, without direct experience of alternative research methodologies, it is premature of me to agree with Rose and Loewenthal's (2006) certainty that heuristic is the most effective methodology. As my career as a therapist-researcher expands, I hope to investigate more thoroughly the range of effective methodologies for studying psychotherapy practice, beginning in this dissertation with heuristic.…”

“…This culminates in one composite depiction, which ties the themes from all depictions together, with the intention of resonating with readers. Rose and Loewenthal (2006) specify that the creative synthesis is not written in general terms in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. They stress that the researcher can only write to their understanding of their experience throughout the research, and it is this specificity that readers resonate with (Rose & Loewenthal, 2006).…”