A heuristic study of the impact on the therapeutic relationship of counsellors who have chosen to experience a significant amount of contemplative silence in their lives

Abstract

A heuristic investigation was undertaken in which four counsellors who live with a significant amount of chosen contemplative silence in their lives were interviewed in order to explore the impact, if any, that their way of life had on the therapeutic relationship. The in depth, open ended interviews took the form of the narrative enquiry. As the ‘bricoleur’ my analysis was based on an emergent design utilizing heuristic methodology. The literature search which revealed a paucity of previous material demonstrates that silence in the lives of counsellors enhances their way of being with clients, making them more self aware and able to relate at a deeper level. The interviews discovered that whilst there were a number of benefits to the counsellor, there were also some difficulties to address. The benefits were an increased self-awareness, relational depth, mindfulness and acceptance. The difficulties raised were that the subject of contemplation or meditation is a difficult area to verbalize, there is a reticence to be transparent about it, and that there are occasions when the fact that the counsellor has access to something that is not understood by the client this may impair the counselling relationship. Findings are presented in the form of individual depictions of each of the four co-researchers, a composite depiction and a creative synthesis. Further research would be beneficial to explore this phenomenon in more depth.