Interview data from the project: 'Student Psychotherapists’ Experiences of Self-Empathy: An Interpretative Poetic Inquiry'

BackgroundInterpersonal empathy is a well-researched concept in the counselling and psychotherapy literature, although less is known about how it is experienced at an intrapersonal level. What is known is that self-empathy involves perspectival shifting and a re-evaluation of events, in kinder and less judgemental ways.AimThe aim of this study was to understand the meaning of self-empathy to trainee creative psychotherapists, in the context of their own self-care and intrapersonal relating.The research took place between October 2023 and June 2024. Methodology and MethodsAn interpretative poetic inquiry design was utilised. Interviews were conducted with 4 trainee creative psychotherapists at 1 University in the Northwest of England, UK. The participants' names have been changed. ResultsSelf-empathy was experienced as a process, often involving several aspects of the self, to understand and accept feelings and events in the context of self-care. Development of self-empathy involved activities such as journaling, poetry writing, meditation and being outdoors. The use of interpretative poetic inquiry enabled the emotional aspects of the data to be distilled and combined reflexively with the experiences of the researchers through the development of interpretative poetry and creative art.ConclusionThis research provides contemporary insights into the experiences of self-empathy from the perspective of a small number of trainee creative psychotherapists. It has implications for students in terms of self-understanding and self-care and for educators, to inform future psychotherapist preparation and curriculum development. Finally, there are implications for future research using interpretative poetic inquiry as a reflexive approach, which embraces the presence of the researcher in the research.

背景人际同理心是咨询与心理治疗文献中研究充分的观念，尽管关于其在内在层面上的体验知之甚少。已知的是，自我同理心涉及视角的转换以及对事件的重新评估，以更为仁慈和较少评判性的方式进行。目标本研究旨在探讨自我同理心对于正在接受创意心理治疗培训的学员而言所蕴含的意义，尤其是在他们自身的自我关怀和内在关系之中。研究于2023年10月至2024年6月间进行。方法论与方法本研究采用了诠释性诗歌探究的设计。在英国西北部的一所大学中，对四位正在接受创意心理治疗培训的学员进行了访谈。参与者的姓名已变更。结果自我同理心被体验为一个过程，通常涉及自我多个方面的理解与接受，以自我关怀的背景下来理解和接受情感与事件。自我同理心的发展涉及诸如日记记录、诗歌创作、冥想和户外活动等活动。诠释性诗歌探究的应用使得数据的情感层面得以提炼，并通过发展诠释性诗歌和创意艺术，与研究者自身的体验进行反思性结合。结论本研究从少数正在接受创意心理治疗培训的学员的视角，提供了对自我同理心体验的当代洞见。对学员而言，它具有自我理解和自我关怀的意义；对教育者而言，它能够为未来的心理治疗师培训和课程开发提供信息。最后，对于未来研究而言，诠释性诗歌探究作为一种反思性方法的应用，它接纳了研究者在本研究中的存在，具有启示性。