DOCTORAL THESIS "Being a professional chameleon" Working with children as a counselling psychologist Riha, Anna Award date: 2011 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 Running head: Being a Professional Chameleon „Being a Professional Chameleon‟: Working with Children as a Counselling Psychologist Anna Riha BSc A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (PsychD) School of Human and Life Sciences Roehampton University January 2011 Being a Professional Chameleon I confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. I give the library/university permission to use my thesis for educational purposes. Name: Signature: Date: II Being a Professional Chameleon Table of Contents Page List of Figures ............................................................................................ VIII List of Tables .............................................................................................. VIII List of Appendix ............................................................................................ IX Glossary of terms ............................................................................................ X Definition of terms ........................................................................................ XI Acknowledgements .................................................................................... XIII Abstract ....................................................................................................... XIV 1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 15 1.1 Context and rational for the study ............................................................................ 15 1.2 Relevance and contribution to counselling psychology knowledge .......................... 2 1.3 Transparency and position of the author .................................................................... 4 1.4 Organisation of the study ........................................................................................... 5 2 Literature review ....................................................................................... 8 2.1 Child mental health and psychological well-being in the UK ................................... 8 2.1.1 Defining child mental health and psychological well-being ................................ 8 2.1.2 Evidence of increased mental health need in children ....................................... 10 2.1.3 Paradigms in child mental health ....................................................................... 12 2.1.3.1 The medical model ....................................................................................... 12 III Being a Professional Chameleon 2.1.3.2 The humanistic model .................................................................................. 14 2.1.3.3 The psychoanalytic model ........................................................................... 14 2.1.3.4 The systemic model ..................................................................................... 16 2.1.3.5 The biopsychosocial model .......................................................................... 17 2.1.4 The importance of early intervention and preventative measures ..................... 18 2.1.5 Current interventions in child mental health ...................................................... 20 2.1.5.1 Pharmacological interventions with children ............................................... 20 2.1.5.2 Therapeutic interventions with children ...................................................... 22 2.1.6 The effectiveness of the provision of mental health services for children ........ 24 2.2 Specialist training to work with children ................................................................. 26 2.3 Counselling Psychology ........................................................................................... 30 2.3.1 Training .............................................................................................................. 30 2.3.2 Evolving notions of identity and professional identity ...................................... 32 2.3.3 The construction of a professional identity ........................................................ 36 2.3.4 A role for counselling psychologists working with children? ........................... 39 2.3.4.1 A role for counselling psychologists in schools? ......................................... 40 2.3.4.2 A role for counselling psychologists in CAMHS? ...................................... 44 2.3.4.3 A role for counselling psychologists with children in forensic settings? .... 45 2.4 Overview .................................................................................................................. 46 2.5 Aims and research question of the study ................................................................. 47 3 Methodology ............................................................................................ 49 IV Being a Professional Chameleon 3.1 Qualitative methodology in psychological research ................................................ 49 3.2 Choice and rational of method of data analysis ....................................................... 50 3.3 Original grounded theory methodology ................................................................... 53 3.4 Evolving grounded theory ........................................................................................ 54 3.5 Constructivist grounded theory ................................................................................ 54 3.6 Reliability and validity in qualitative research ........................................................ 56 4 Method ..................................................................................................... 59 4.1 The participants ........................................................................................................ 59 4.2 The recruitment process ........................................................................................... 61 4.3 A constructivist approach to interviewing ............................................................... 61 4.4 Counteracting the power imbalances in the interview relationship ......................... 63 4.5 Ethical considerations .............................................................................................. 64 4.6 Reflexivity ................................................................................................................ 66 4.7 The pilot interview ................................................................................................... 66 4.8 Data analysis procedure ........................................................................................... 67 5 Analysis .................................................................................................... 72 5.1 Overview .................................................................................................................. 72 5.2 Subcategory 1: Adapting to Working with Children ............................................... 76 5.2.1 Ways of being .................................................................................................... 77 5.2.2 Understanding the wider context ....................................................................... 84 5.3 Subcategory 2– Professional Selves ........................................................................ 89 V Being a Professional Chameleon 5.3.1 Adaptability to context ....................................................................................... 89 5.3.1.1 Participants who worked in schools and for family charities ...................... 90 5.3.1.2 Participants who worked in CAMHS .......................................................... 91 5.3.1.3 Participants who worked independently ...................................................... 94 5.3.2 Team identity ..................................................................................................... 95 5.3.3 Malleable professional titles .............................................................................. 98 5.4 Subcategory 3: Training and Perceived Competency in Working with Children . 102 5.4.1 Perceived value of counselling psychology training working with children ... 102 5.4.2 Specific child training ...................................................................................... 109 5.4.3 Prior experience ............................................................................................... 113 5.4.4 Intrinsic quality