A qualitative analysis on the client’s experience of the propeller model approach to counselling therapy, Dublin Business School

Abstract

The successful development of psychotherapeutic and counselling approaches can reflect the evolution and innovation within the industry of psychological treatment. Measuring the benefits of an approach involves inquiry into how it is conducted, the practitioner conducting it, and even the setting in which it is conducted. The aims of this exploratory study are to discover if a psychotherapeutic approach, the Propeller Model Approach, serves its purpose of increasing self-awareness for clients. Such awareness is distinguished in the study as intrinsic and instrumental and aims to build on the theoretical framework that self-awareness is beneficial to the human condition. In order to conduct the study, a semi-structured interview was conducted with five clients engaged in counselling therapy after an individual online counselling session. Each session utilized the Approach implemented by the practitioner for the study who was also the principal researcher. To understand the nature of the participant experience of the Approach, a phenomenological interpretivist epistemology was adhered to. The use of abduction assisted in connecting the ontological construction of participant feedback from their interaction with the Approach to new potential hypotheses. The data of the feedback was analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis that respected the hermeneutical nature of the coding and thematization of the data. The study serves as an example of evidence-based research into a new psychotherapeutic approach and can guide practitioners interested in utilizing the Propeller Model Approach to counselling therapy or for general exploration into human identity.