‘Unlocking the cage door’: the spatiality of counselling

Bondi, Liz; Fewell, Judith

doi:10.1080/1464936032000137948

Cited by 63 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Research on the spatiality of counselling as a field of inquiry is only in its infancy and to date has received minimal attention in the literature (Bondi & Fewell, 2003). Bondi and Fewell (2003) contend that the practice of counselling naturally encourages spatial description and analogy, where inner spaces that represent the interiority of human experience, such as emotions and the unconscious, are represented through images of exterior spaces, such as "a journey" and "wander all over the place" (Bondi & Fewell, 2003, p. 540).…”

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such it is evident that at each stage of this process telephone counsellors are interacting with, being impacted by, and responding to space during and outside of their interactions with callers. Understanding telephone counselling practice as a spatial practice aligns with conceptualisations of face to face counselling as spatial in nature (Bondi & Fewell, 2003).…”

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counselling Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research could explore how counsellors may utilise the callers' physical environment within their counselling sessions and the therapeutic value of this focus. Bondi and Fewell (2003) …”

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bondi and Fewell (2003) contend that the practice of counselling naturally encourages spatial description and analogy, where inner spaces that represent the interiority of human experience, such as emotions and the unconscious, are represented through images of exterior spaces, such as "a journey" and "wander all over the place" (Bondi & Fewell, 2003, p. 540). These authors focus on the spatiality of counselling in terms of its spatial boundaries and metaphors, as well as the importance of physical space in creating the necessary conditions for a safe space for counselling to occur.…”

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The physical spatial dimension refers to the physical environment in which telephone counselling work is carried out, whereas symbolic spatial dimensions refer to the imagined or illusionary spaces that may be explored or experienced in counselling practice (Bondi & Fewell, 2003).…”

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Youth counsellors' experiences of telephone counselling: a qualitative exploration

Davidson¹

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Telephone counselling is a well established medium of non-face-to-face mental health service delivery. Research to date has focussed on the delivery and effectiveness of therapy over the telephone. However, there has been little exploration of counsellor's experience of this work. The limited body of research about telephone counsellors' experiences portrays this work as challenging, exhausting and possibility traumatic for counsellors to perform. This is of significance considering the impact these factors can have on counsellors' subjective wellbeing, job satisfaction and turnover intentions.Research suggests that work related factors play a greater part than individual characteristics in shaping the experiences of telephone counsellors. However, there is limited understanding of the various types of work related factors that may shape these experiences.To address this gap in the extant literature this thesis explores youth counsellors' experiences of telephone counselling, and the range of work related factors that foster them. It examines telephone counsellors' general experiences of this work and those in relation to the work related factors of work environment, interpersonal relationships and specific aspects of the work. Unlike previous research, particular attention is paid to the spatial aspects of this work, such as the physical workplace environment and the mental space.To gain an in-depth understanding of telephone counsellors' experiences this research employed an instrumental case study approach and focused on youth counsellors in one telephone counselling service in New Zealand. Ten counsellors with 18 months to 9 years telephone counselling experience participated in this study, with the majority concurrently studying a human service related course at university. A multi-method design was adopted, including observations, in-depth interviews and reflective journals. To explore counsellors' experiences and how they are influenced by work related factors, both social constructionist and organisational theoretical lenses were adopted.The findings in this thesis indicate that overall counsellors enjoyed the work of telephone counselling despite its challenges. They experienced discrete aspects of their work as challenging, yet enjoyed their interactions with callers and the quality of relationships they had with colleagues and supervisors. Whilst counsellors experienced elements of the physical environment to be distracting and uncomfortable, they were able to exert some influence over the impact of these features by locating themselves in a preferred 3 counselling booth. Counsellors were found to enter into a distinct mental place when joining with their callers. Within this mental place they experienced a higher degree of proximity in counselling calls and greater distance in testing calls. The counsellors were able to manage the degree of closeness within their calls by their physical movement of leaning into counselling calls and leaning back from testing calls.This thesis makes a contribu...

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Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counselling Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Spatiality Of Telephone Counsellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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