BACKGROUND:Traumatic life events can have a profound impact on the physical and psychological wellbeing of not only those who directly experience them, but others who are indirectly affected, such as victims' partners.AIMS:This study aimed to explore the experiences and views of partners of individuals who have a history of trauma and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).METHODS:In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six partners of people who had experienced trauma and were diagnosed with PTSD and awaiting or receiving treatment at a specialist Trauma Service. The data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.RESULTS:One overarching theme resulted from the data: partners experienced trauma and PTSD as an ongoing journey of loss and gain. This was supported by three superordinate themes: making sense of the trauma and ensuing consequences, shifting identities, and accessing and experiencing outside resources. Partners' journeys were characterised by striving and struggling to make sense of the trauma and its ensuing consequences, whilst grappling with the identities of themselves, their partners and relationships shifting over time. Participants navigated their journeys in the context of external resources and support from friends, family, colleagues and professionals.CONCLUSIONS:The results of this study highlight the need for greater information and support for partners of people with PTSD.

The construct of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as an explanation of an individual's experience is generally accepted in the literature but has recently been called into question. This study adopted a qualitative stance to offer an alternative to this accepted view. Six individuals undergoing Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) participated and their data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Themes interpreted from the data provided a sense that although MBT helped participants, they did not feel cured.

The objective of this research was to explore through interpretative phenomenological analysis on how psychotherapists understand and conceptualize women’s relationship experiences including those of intimacy and love with their abusive partners. In this study, 6 therapists were interviewed regarding women’s relationship experiences with abusive partners. The findings of this research challenge the notion that therapists can act as blank screens in therapy and has implications for psychological therapy, therapists, supervisors, training courses, services, and policymakers. These highlight the need for therapists, through self-reflection, supervision, continuous professional development, and personal therapy, to reflect on how they influence women’s disclosures of abusive experiences. The study supports the argument for a multitreatment approach with systemic understanding when working with women living with violence and abuse.

Koenderink (2014, Perception, 43, 1–6) has said most Perception readers are deluded, because they believe an ‘All Seeing Eye’ observes an objective reality. We trace the source of Koenderink's assertion to his metaphysical idealism, and point to two major weaknesses in his position—namely, its dualism and foundationalism. We counter with arguments from modern philosophy of science for the existence of an objective material reality, contrast Koenderink's enactivism to his idealism, and point to ways in which phenomenology and cognitive science are complementary and not mutually exclusive.

This study sought to explore the views of clinical psychologists towards the concepts of ‘risk’ and ‘recovery’ and to set those views against the context of mental health services. An exploratory, social constructionist grounded theory methodology was adopted. Eleven clinical psychologists working in adult mental health services each participated in one individual semistructured interview. The clinical psychologists studied were aware of the emergence of recovery-oriented approaches, but felt unable to incorporate them in practice because of perceptions of being bound by both their own limitations and those of their circumstances, including issues of risk, thus giving rise to dilemmas in professional practice. Narrow definitions of risk as equated to danger dominated over broader conceptualizations of risk with positive consequences. The existing culture of mental health services was seen as emphasizing the need to avoid harmful consequences of taking risks, which in turn was seen to limit innovations in implementing recovery-oriented approaches. Participants' ability to work in a recovery-oriented manner seemed to be limited by the way in which services perceived and responded to risk. Participants did not discuss risks arising from stigma, social exclusion, racism, sexism, or iatrogenic effects of psychiatric treatment. Narrow conceptualizations of risk as related to harm and danger seen in this study contribute to a sense of needing to be risk averse. However, the implications for practice included ideas about what might increase the possibilities for adopting recovery approaches across disciplines.

High levels of mental health problems have been identified in young people who have offended (committed/been convicted of a criminal offence). However, as with many young people, they tend not to seek support for their difficulties. This research aimed to explore support-seeking in this population by asking ‘What are the perceptions of support-seeking in young people attending a Youth Offending Team?’ Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six males (aged 13–18) and the transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four master themes were revealed: Youth Offending Team attendance prompting reflection, Damaged self, Complexity of relationships and Internal conflicts. Generally participants perceived support-seeking as beneficial, but various barriers meant that they did not tend to view it as a viable coping strategy for themselves. Interventions aimed at addressing these barriers may help young people who have offended to seek support.

This qualitative study aimed to explore therapists' experiences of loss. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 therapists and the data were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three master themes emerged from the analysis: (a) the grieving therapist, (b) hindrances in grieving, and (c) the impact of loss on therapeutic work. Therapists talked about their grief and elaborated on how they coped with their bereavement. Hindrances in their grief were reported, emerging both from others' stance and from their own. Participants found that their experience of loss was related to both challenges and advancements in their therapeutic work.

Objectives: Returning to work after having experienced a brain injury poses difficulties for people who have undergone this traumatic experience. Research in general and into brain injury in particular has neglected to address the social aspects of experiencing a brain injury and returning to work. This research aimed to offer a qualitative perspective into the area of research into brain injury and returning to work. The objective was to acknowledge the voices of people who have experienced a brain injury and their experiences of returning to work. Methods: Four participants took part in the research and encouraged to narrate their experiences. A narrative approach to data analysis was employed to examine the data. Results: Results indicate that there is variability in the psychological process that each individual goes through after their brain injury; all participants experienced their trauma and the consequent symptoms differently. However, some commonalities arose when participants referred to their return to work: a number of external and internal factors, which include social environment, self perceptions, support and nature of the job, were described as influencing their decision of returning to work and the experience of work itself. Conclusions: Returning to work after experiencing a brain injury is a process that engages the self with its social environment and the work environment. Society and science need to pay attention to the voices of the individuals and the stories they share about themselves and their experiences. It is hoped that by identifying the elements that influence the return to employment, vocational rehabilitation services and organisations can become more person-tailored and flexible to each person’s situation.

ObjectivesThis study sought to explore the views of clinical psychologists towards the concepts of risk' and recovery' and to set those views against the context of mental health services.DesignAn exploratory, social constructionist grounded theory methodology was adopted.MethodsEleven clinical psychologists working in adult mental health services each participated in one individual semistructured interview.ResultsThe clinical psychologists studied were aware of the emergence of recovery-oriented approaches, but felt unable to incorporate them in practice because of perceptions of being bound by both their own limitations and those of their circumstances, including issues of risk, thus giving rise to dilemmas in professional practice. Narrow definitions of risk as equated to danger dominated over broader conceptualizations of risk with positive consequences. The existing culture of mental health services was seen as emphasizing the need to avoid harmful consequences of taking risks, which in turn was seen to limit innovations in implementing recovery-oriented approaches.ConclusionsParticipants' ability to work in a recovery-oriented manner seemed to be limited by the way in which services perceived and responded to risk. Participants did not discuss risks arising from stigma, social exclusion, racism, sexism, or iatrogenic effects of psychiatric treatment. Narrow conceptualizations of risk as related to harm and danger seen in this study contribute to a sense of needing to be risk averse. However, the implications for practice included ideas about what might increase the possibilities for adopting recovery approaches across disciplines.

Objectives: To determine public perception of: 1) mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) amongst British service personnel; and 2 (veteran healthcare). Methods: The study was posted online and participants were also recruited offline from town councils, public libraries, religious organisations, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Twelve questions of public perceptions of mild traumatic brain injury and veteran healthcare were presented after a vignette on a service personnel’s account of mild traumatic brain injury. The responses were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified. The right to quality healthcare, awareness or lack thereof of the injury, and empathy towards the experiences of service personnel with mTBI. Members of the public have a firm opinion that veterans have a right to healthcare. Their service to their nation warrants proper treatment. There is empathy towards service personnel with the injury. However there is little awareness as to the nature of mTBI and the full extent of its impact on the lives of service personnel. Respondents cited that this might be due to the issue being low on the political agenda. Conclusion: Participants indicated that they had not previously given thought to the injury or had not heard about it previously. Most respondents were also not familiar with the services available to veterans with the injury. Empathising with the experiences while at the same time recognising the extent of their ability to render support for service personnel with the injury seemed to resonant. More public awareness campaigns on the extent of the injury and what the injury entails would ensure greater understanding of service personnel with the injury.

The participation of service users and the public in the development of clinical guidelines is increasingly valued in international guideline programmes. This paper extends the findings of Harding et al.'s (2010) exploration of the views of service users who participated in developing NICE mental health guidelines. This analysis considered the relative value of personal versus professional knowledge and experience, the barriers to service users contributing effectively in guideline development, the unspoken 'rules' concerning decision making, and issues of power and group dynamics. We combine these insights with observations from research in guideline development and with advances in the recovery movement and in the shared decision-making clinical model to suggest areas of improvement in guideline development, notably: translating evidence to recommendations, optimizing the acceptability of treatment recommendations to service users, and reconciling different types of knowledge.

This article reviews literature on therapists' bereavement and loss experiences and how these experiences affect them personally and professionally. To afford a holistic, elaborate, and flexible view on loss, this review uses central theories on bereavement as a framework. Therapists' bereavement and loss experiences are presented within three different contexts: the death of a close relative, the end of therapy owing to client death, and other types of personal loss. The article ends with recommendations for possible future research.

This paper reports a qualitative, idiographic study employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the experiences of therapists who have a mindfulness practice, looking at how this is brought into their individual therapeutic work. Findings focus on mindfulness, conceptualized as a way of being, which emerges as a central theme in all accounts. Three "way of being" related themes are used to illustrate therapists' experiences of mindfulness as part of their personal life and how this is brought into the therapy room both implicitly and explicitly. The application of mindfulness in therapy is discussed while drawing links with the mindfulness literature.

Gay men utilise psychotherapy at a higher rate than heterosexual men due to increased societal stressors. However, even though homosexuality has been depathologised since 1973, some therapists still seem to approach it from a pathological perspective. In Greece, societal attitudes towards homosexuality are highly negative, and issues of homosexuality and psychotherapy are absent from research literature. Overall, the existent literature on the psychotherapeutic experiences of gay men is sparse, and limited within the US and the UK. This paper explores the psychotherapeutic experiences of five gay men in Greece. Three narrative forms of therapy were identified: progression; tragedy; and dialectic conflict. Also, two commonalities were identified: therapy as the only way out, and the only gay in the room.

This study investigated the experiences of people who received a contemporary form of cognitive therapy for distressing voices. Eighteen people who heard distressing voices participated in an 8-session person-based cognitive therapy (PBCT) group and were then interviewed to elicit their experiences from the group. Data were gathered during a series of five posttherapy focus groups based on a semistructured interview schedule. A grounded theory approach was used to generate, work with, and understand the data. Four categories emerged: two representing the context for reflection and change and two representing the acceptance of voices and self and the changing sense of self. The conceptual and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Background and aims: Although the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) mandates service user involvement in developing treatment guidelines, questions arise concerning appropriate mechanisms of involvement and its impact. This study sought to elicit users' perceptions of their involvement. Method: Grounded theory was used to analyse transcripts from interviews with 10 service user guideline development group representatives. Results: Four categories emerged suggesting that participants drew upon expertise developed through experience and impact upon the process and product of guideline development. Unwritten rules and social comparisons influence deliberations. Conclusions: Service users reported making a useful contribution despite intrinsic barriers.