Experiential Learning for Professional Helpers: A Residential Workshop Innovation

ISBN-13: 9783319479187 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 352 str.

Godfrey T. Barrett-Lennard

Opis

This book describes in considerable depth and detail a series of workshops in therapeutic counselling in the early 1960s, for people working in social or mental health care who wished to expand their skillset and capabilities. The book is unique in its comprehensive retrospective viewpoint of the effect of these workshops: rather than merely adopting an objective stance by describing the processes, structures and impacts of intensive group work, the book invites us into the initial conversations in the room, and then follows the group members back into their lives, allowing us to see the longer term impact of participation some ten years later. Finally, Barrett-Lennard reflects on the group, and on the history of the profession more generally, and makes a compelling argument that the foundations of the group and the participants' motivation for fully participating in such an intensive process are as powerful today as they were in the 1960s. The blend of qualitative and long-term data is genuinely unique, and the work provides a valuable insight into the history of therapeutic counselling and training. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of psychology and psychotherapy, as well as practising therapists and trainees who want to do meaningful work with their client groups.

Spis treści

Chapter 1. The ‘Armidale’ Residential Workshops: Concept and Beginnings.- PART I. ‘As it Happened’: The Process Documented.- Chapter 2. Finding our Difficult Way: Group X’s Transcribed Beginning.- Chapter 3. Mid-Journey Advance and the Late Stages of Group X.- Chapter 4. Tracing the More Relaxed Journey of Group Y, and Glimpses of Further Groups.- Chapter 5. Session-by-Session Participant Ratings of Process and Effects.- PART II. Outcome Reports and Estimations.- Chapter 6. After-the-Workshop Reflections by Letter-Report.- Chapter 7. Workshop Outcomes from Formal Six-Month Follow-Up Data.- Chapter 8. Ten Years Later: Long-Term Follow-Up via Study of Life Events.- Chapter 9. Armidale Remembered and Participant After-Journeys: Interview Perspectives.- PART III. Theory and Wider Application. Chapter 10. A Theoretical Understanding of Intensive Experiential Learning Groups.- Chapter 11. Armidale and Beyond: A Path of Events and Thought.

O autorze

Godfrey Barrett-Lennard is Adjunct Professor in the School of Psychology and Exercise Science and in the School of Health Professions at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. His research and writing has largely focused on relationships in therapy, groups and life systems, including family and community. This writing includes five previous single-authored books. 

Blurb

This book describes a series of ground-breaking residential workshops in therapeutic counselling in the 1960s, for people working in mental health and social care disciplines seeking to expand and deepen their reach. The work is unique in the scope of its research into the process and outcomes of such active immersive enquiry in this area. Besides a wealth of more systematic features, the author invites us into the initial conversations in the meeting room, and then follows the group members back into their lives, allowing us to see both early outcomes and the impact of participation up to ten years later. Finally, Barrett-Lennard reflects on the extended history of the intensive workshops and the related group work in other contexts they led into. He makes a compelling argument that such an intensive participatory process is as powerful today as it was in the 1960s. The blend of rich qualitative and empirical data and theory is a unique strength. It will be a great resource for students and scholars in applied psychology and psychotherapy, as well as for practicing therapists and trainees committed to meaningful work with their client groups.