Delivering therapy in prison: An IPA study researching the lived experience of psychotherapists and counsellors

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the lived experience and its tentative meanings of psychological therapists working in a prison setting. An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) epistemology and method were chosen for this study as it focused on understanding the meanings attributed by participants to their particular lived experience. Eight participants (counsellors and psychotherapists1 1. The terms are used interchangeably throughout the paper. ) were interviewed using semi-structured questions based on existing research and on one of the researcher's (Bertrand-Godfrey) experiences of working therapeutically in a male prison. Interviews lasted approximately an hour and were analysed using IPA [Smith, J., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London: Sage.], an idiographic method which allows an in-depth analysis of the transcripts. The close analysis of the eight interviews produced five super-ordinate themes: the challenges to frame and boundaries, facing the specificities of a prison environment, focus on the therapeutic relationship, focus on the self and the choice of working in prison. Participants found prison to be a challenging context for practising as psychological therapists with strong feelings either towards clients within the therapeutic relationship, towards the establishment or within themselves. On the other hand, most of the participants realised that despite the context they were able to function in conditions that others have found too adverse to handle. The implication for practice stems from the finding that although challenging for the relationship and for the self, some counsellors and psychotherapists are willing to undertake this task which requires them stepping away from the familiar.