Clients‟ experience of counselling within a narrative framework
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Beauty and the Beast ( PDFDrive )
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- The Containment-Freedom Continuum 1
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CHAPTER FIVE
THE THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT 5.1 Introduction In this chapter the polarity between containment and freedom is examined as the tension or opposition that holds the two concepts together while keeping them apart. Each of the categories that emerged is explored with reference to the participants‟ journals from which they emerged. They are perceived as places along a continuum (p.122) where no one state is better than another as each are seen as necessary parts of the whole. The notion of a containment freedom polarity may have emerged from my personal experience as a counsellor and client but the key words were developed from the pilot study. Although six categories emerged from the pilot study the category containment-freedom became the overall structure (p.126) that held the other categories leaving the following five categories. 1. Uncontained-unfree 2. Overcontained-overfree 3. Fighting containment-freedom 4. Desire for containment-freedom 5. Towards containment-freedom 122 The Containment-Freedom Continuum 1 Towards containment overcontained overfree towards freedom desire for containment uncontained desire for freedom _______________ _______________ ______________ _____ the axis______ ____________ ______________ ___________________ Containment Freedom Unfree The axis demonstrates the point of no movement, where the client may feel stuck but may also be able to look around their internal world. Containment and freedom at either end of the continuum show that each stage may be an integral part of movement, as if to reach one it may be necessary to pass through other categories. 123 As the analysis of the following main study progressed, an overlap between three categories became visible and there was a need to re-examine their contents. The overlaps were between containment-freedom, towards containment-freedom and the desire for containment-freedom. These changes occurred through close engagement with the journal narratives and the realization that a visible structure might provide greater understanding of the notion of a containment- freedom polarity. 5.2 The analysis During the analysis of the pilot study the categories were highlighted in the text with colour and every line that appeared to hold a category was highlighted in the chosen colour (appendix 13). Lines that did not appear to hold a category were left with no highlighting. However in the main study the journal entries covered a much greater period of time and looking for categories line by line felt unwieldy and too intense. It seemed appropriate to spend more time interpreting the text before searching for the constructs, particularly as I was struggling to re-engage with the work after an enforced break. As time gave space for reconsidering the pilot study it felt that each journal entry held one main category alongside others. For example in the following entry from the pilot study lines were initially put into categories: 124 Extract 7. To show how the pilot journals were categorized Lines from a journal Categoreies Line 1 . Nervous Overcontained-overfree Line 2 . Held Desire for containment-freedom Line 3 . Sad Containment- freedom Line 4. Deeply sad Containment-freedom Line 5. Tearful Containment-freedom Line 6. Held Containment-freedom Line 7. Enlightened Containment-freedom Line 8. Hopeful Containment-freedom Line 9. Fear (can I handle it) Overcontained-overfree Line 10. Fear (can she handle it) Overcontained-overfree Line 11. Re-assured Desire for containment-freedom Line 12. Held Containment-freedom Line 13. Free to be myself Containment-freedom In light of the learning from the main study this entry would now be put into one overall category, desire for containment-freedom. My new understanding of the categories would change lines 1, 9 and 10 into the category of desire for containment-freedom. There is a wish to be the same as the counsellor in line 9 and 10 and a nervous feeling towards her in line 1. These lines no longer fit within their initial category as the understanding of overcontained-overfree has 125 been more clearly defined. Also lines that were given the category of containment-freedom would have to change as this is now the overall structure. In fact these lines also fit the category of desire for containment-freedom which has also been more clearly defined. The pilot study provided a starting point for the categories but they have been altered through the process of the work. The above example shows the overlap that occurred through categories which enabled the formation of the overall structure. It also demonstrates the possibility of using one overall category for each journal entry. This need not exclude the possibility of other categories being present, for they may be within each other. This led to searching for one main category for each journal entry in the main study and omitting the highlighting. Although more than one category may be present in an entry it no longer felt essential to be so precise when working with such a large volume of narrative. There was also a sense that the existence of the categories felt more real and I was no longer working to prove something to myself which had been part of the pilot study. My comprehension of the categories was clearer through the familiarity gained from working with the journal texts over long periods of time. |
