‘I sort of feel that one is meant to say how important endings always are…’ Counsellors’ experiences of endings in primary care : an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Ending therapy well is widely acknowledged as crucial for therapeutic gains to be maintained over time, yet numerous authors comment on the paucity of termination research. There appears to be no extant research into counsellors’ experiences of ending time-limited counselling in primary care (CPC), despite this being a rapidly-expanding area of practice, and theoretical literature suggesting elevated stress levels, ideological battles and burnout as counsellors adjust to time-limited working within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. When the ‘hallmark’ of a good ending is mutual agreement concerning client readiness, to what extent do traditional models of termination still hold? The aim of this research is provide some preliminary understanding of counsellors’ experiences of endings within this context. A qualitative design was employed. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews with six counsellors, and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Four overarching themes emerged: ‘self-experiencing’, ‘the quality of the therapeutic process’, ‘conflicting frameworks’, and ‘towards congruence’. These are related to wider literature and implications for counselling psychology (CoP) are discussed. Limitations and suggestions for future research are explored