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Totman, Sarah (2024) "This is a university, not a hospital!": ...psychotherapists' experience of providing counselling to students with severe mental health conditions in university counselling settings: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
Background and aim:
The prevalence of severe mental health conditions in both the wider population and the student population has increased in recent years. NHS and statutory services have struggled to meet the demand for mental health treatment and therefore students with severe presentations such as suicidal ideation, self-harm, personality disorder and trauma are applying, in ever-increasing numbers, to university services - whose scope has traditionally been supporting students with mild to moderate difficulties using short-term, solution-focussed approaches. Research has traditionally focussed on the students themselves, not the experience of the counsellors supporting them.
Method:
To address this, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted online, with a mix of counselling psychologists and psychotherapists working in university counselling services across the UK.
Findings:
The interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four themes were identified: 'I work in a university not a hospital', 'I couldn't do this work alone', 'Give me more time' and 'Managing the work and keeping me going'. These themes interconnected and conveyed the awareness of the work and the concomitant responsibilities. They encompassed what is needed to do the work, at a personal, professional, and institutional level.
Conclusion:
Recommendations have been made for research, training, and best practice, noting that counselling psychologists may have much to offer the sector in this challenge.
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