Lynne Gabriel

Perspectives of Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: An Exploration of the Adjustments to Self-Structure through Meaning-Making in Therapy

ABSTRACT This critical literature review explored how adult survivors of child sexual abuse experienced adjustments to their self-structure through meaning-making in therapy. Following extensive searches of academic databases, 15 studies were identified for review. Using thematic analysis, eight themes emerged. The eight identified themes of trust, acknowledgement, evolution, acceptance, integration, congruence, relational, and agency represented distinct but interrelated components of self-structure. The findings also indicated that self-structure components may be both intra- and interrelational in nature and that movement in one theme may facilitate movement in another. While recognizing that the nature of the research captured a composite of experiences, it was found that there was a consistent movement and fluidity as to how participants arrived at an adjusted position for each of the themes. A suggested theoretical framework was developed showing the components of the self-structure impacted by meaning-making and the nature of the adjustments made. Recommendations are made regarding future research.

Barriers to support: a qualitative exploration into the help-seeking and avoidance factors of young adults

ABSTRACT The current research explores young adults’ beliefs, awareness and understanding surrounding help-seeking behaviour in relation to barriers preventing access to counselling support. The literature suggests that several barriers, such as a lack of awareness, stigma and gender roles, will have a negative influence on help-seeking. To complement and expand on the substantial body of quantitative research on help-seeking, the present research undertook a qualitative, phenomenological study, in order to explore meaning and understanding in relation to help-seeking behaviours. The sample consisted of six college psychology students, who participated in one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Discourse analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts. The results suggested gender roles, awareness and perception of help, social and cultural expectations/norms, and risk of stigma and rejection, as the significant barriers to help-seeking behaviour. It is suggested that future research could focus on how to reduce these barriers, thus improving help-seeking opportunities for young adults.

Making sense of loss and grief: the value of in-depth assessments

Abstract Research in a community-based bereavement support service has revealed a proportion of clients for whom an assessment session which focuses on meaning-making mitigates the need for ongoing professional intervention. We suggest that such in-depth assessment sessions may consolidate resilience by helping clients construct meaning in relation to their loss. We support our position with four case studies using assimilation analysis.

Observing a client's grieving process: bringing logical positivism into qualitative grief counselling research

This positional paper originates from our need as researcher/practitioners to establish a meaningful epistemological framework for research into bereaved peoples journey through loss and grief over time. We describe how the field of grief research has a long and established biological basis, in keeping with a positivist epistemology. However, there has been a diminution of the influence of logical positivism in twenty-first-century counselling research. We argue that in grief counselling research, naturalistic observation of the grieving process within a logical positivist paradigm, remains a valid and valuable construct. We posit an observational protocol for the grief counselling process which minimises the intrusion of research method into the therapeutic process. We offer this as a means of conducting qualitative research within a bereavement counselling service. Further, we suggest that the development of an observational protocol for a clients grieving process has potential implications for developing good practice in grief work.