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. 2021 Mar 24;15(1):75-87.
doi: 10.1007/s40653-021-00349-x. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Working Relationally with Adolescents Who Have Experienced Complex Interpersonal Trauma: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Nicola Amari  1 , Adam Mahoney  2
Affiliations

Working Relationally with Adolescents Who Have Experienced Complex Interpersonal Trauma: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Nicola Amari et al. J Child Adolesc Trauma. .

Abstract

The study explores practitioners' experiences of working with adolescents with complex interpersonal trauma. Five mental health professionals were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to identify themes related to the research question. Three superordinate themes emerged: "The distance-relationship dynamic"; "The unknown self"; "Practitioners' presence". Participants reported the fragility of their relationships with clients, enhanced awareness of their professional and personal identity, and highlighted the importance of meeting their clients as persons. Results are discussed within the literature that considers the role of the person of the therapist to foster therapeutic change. Future research could explore the role of therapeutic distance, the interplay between transference-countertransference and attachment dynamics, and the relevance of practitioners' playfulness with traumatised youth. Finally, this study proposes a model of use of self as "compassion-in-action" to express practitioners' 'response-ability' to their clients' trauma as commitment to social justice.

Keywords: Adolescence; Complex trauma; Counselling psychology; Person of the therapist; Use of self.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestWe have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

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