{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02846153846153846, 'fraction_numerical': 0.003076923076923077, 'mean_word_length': 6.032432432432432, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Straddling the contradictions: Understanding and conceptualising the role of attachment status in counselling psychologists’ accounts of personal therapy

This article aims to explore some of the tensions and dilemmas of combining different qualitative methods in a single study. The author presents a sample of results from recent research exploring the role of attachment status in counselling psychologists’ experiences of personal therapy. Participants were interviewed twice: once using Main and Goldwyn's Adult Attachment Interview, coded for reflective function (Fonagy, P., Target, M., Steele, H., & Steele, M. (1998)); and subsequently using a semi-structured interview format, analysed via interpretative phenomenological analysis, to explore experiences of personal therapy. Meshing results from both sets of data raised interesting questions about how to reconcile interpretations drawing on attachment theory with phenomenological, experience-near descriptions of personal therapy. Drawing on neo-pragmatist philosophies, the author considers how participants’ accounts can be seen to interrogate the professional view that personal therapy is an indispensable part of psychotherapeutic training. The value of retaining a pluralist perspective within qualitative research is recommended.