Bless me Father, for I have sinned-An Investigation into the Effects of an Institutional Environment On the Counselling Process

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Authors
Davis, Joanne
Issue Date
2005
Degree
BA (Hons) Counselling and Psychotherapy
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights
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Abstract
An institutional setting for the purpose of this study is defined as religious or educational environments, which are used as a setting for counselling and psychotherapy. There has been little research on the effects of the environment, on the conscious and unconscious processes which are involved in the psychotherapeutic process. In this study, eleven participants who have attended counselling in an institutional setting, were asked to take part in a semistructured interview, to ascertain sensations and perceptions in the client in response to the environment. Results indicated that there are conscious and unconscious processes occurring within clients who attend institutional counselling centres. There are associations for the client with institutional environments, which are demonstrated by transference within the psychotherapeutic relationship. Implications of these findings are suggested in section 6, Discussion of results, and section 7, Implications of results.