The long goodbye: An investigation of how personal, professional and social dimensions influence the creation of endings in psychodynamic counselling

This thesis explores the ending stages of psychodynamic counselling. Endings in counselling might be planned from the outset; negotiated through the course of the work; thrust upon participants due to external circumstances; or the work might end if the relationship between counsellor and client is not robust enough to be sustained. A psycho-social research methodology was used to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between participants’ internal worlds and the broader context of the social and cultural constructs around them.The data for this research was supplied through thirty-eight interviews with nineteen participants: nine counsellors; six counselling clients; and four counselling supervisors, all involved with providing, receiving or supervising psychodynamic counselling in London or South West England. Data collection used free association narrative interviews, in conjunction with reflexive approaches such as field work notes and the researcher maintaining a reflexive journal. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.The research findings produce a distinctive history of how endings in psychodynamic counselling are constructed, with a focus on the acculturation of new counsellors effecting how they approach endings. The adherence of new counsellors to a narrative of death, loss and mourning in relation to endings appears to lessen over time and to allow a broader interpretation of endings, with greater association to attachment based narratives of endings emerging. Although not strongly linked, the research suggests counsellors who experienced sudden, rather than timely, deaths in their biographies, and those who have no children, tend to use a narrative of death, loss and mourning to frame their understanding of endings in counselling.Finally, this research offers a unique view on how counselling clients experience the psychodynamic counselling relationship, which raises questions about professional practice serving as a defence against anxiety and counsellors’ lack of awareness of the public’s expectation of their role

Afterword [to the Special Issue: A Spotlight on Newcomer Graduate Students’ Research]

Within academic circles, it is widely accepted that diverse perspectives contribute to a broad knowledge-base in the field, which results in innovative ways forward. The articles in this Special Issue are exemplary of this idea, as each casts light on previously shadowed areas of exploration. Importantly, each article is grounded in personal experience with a focus on supporting the community. This commitment and success in conducting such rewarding research is astonishing given the challenges newcomer scholars can face in academia, as noted by Lena, the lead editor for the Special Issue, in her introduction. We, Maisha and Jon, would like to thank the authors and Lena for their generosity in sharing their experiences and research in service of moving their respective conversations

Foreword [to the Special Issue: Doctoral Seminar 2017 – An International Journey]

[Extract:] Welcome readers to the Emerging Perspectives Special Issue on the International Doctoral Seminar. The International Doctoral Seminar (IDS) is a collaborative project involving three universities, one each in Australia (Queensland University of Technology—QUT), Canada (University of Calgary—UC), and China (Beijing Normal University—BNU). This Special Issue idea began serendipitously on a beautiful evening in Brisbane after a meal of delicious Vietnamese and Chinese food, shared amongst the doctoral seminar participants during the 2017 cycle, at which I was a student participant. We were standing outside the restaurant chatting and saying goodnight when one of the faculty mentors and one of the student participants approached me. They told me that they had been discussing publishing opportunities for international graduate students. The faculty mentor knew I was one of the editors of EPIGREP and exclaimed, “wouldn’t it be neat to publish a Special Issue of our IDS 2017 experience?” We continued to talk about the possibility and let it sit. The next day, we headed to a market and beach. While we were loading the bus, the faculty mentor asked me to pick up the microphone and introduce EPIGREP to everyone, where I asked if they would be interested in collaborating for a Special Issue. Thinking back, the ride was bumpy, and I had to think organically to represent our journal positively. There were some questions and excitement in the air, despite it being a long and somewhat tiring day already

International students’ university to work transition: research-in-brief

International students are increasingly seeking to attend Canadian educational institutions and the Canadian government has signaled its intention to make international students an important part of immigration policy. Yet, international students often face barriers when integrating into the workforce and many decide to return to their country of origin. In this paper we detailed the preliminary findings from the doctoral thesis underway by the first author, including the results from interviews with seven international students who graduated more than two years but less than nine years ago. We used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) and Systems Theory Framework (Patton & McMahon, 2014) to conceptualize the study of how former international students transition to the workforce. The findings from this study offered insights into the influences that were important as they navigated immigration issues related to their transition to the workforce

Correlates of immigrant workers’ job satisfaction

Research in the career development field has primarily focused on the barriers immigrant workers face when integrating into the workforce and how they can overcome these barriers. There have been few studies investigating contextual factors that impede workplace integration. To address this gap, the current study surveyed employed immigrant workers across Canada about their job satisfaction, in relation to their bicultural competence, English language usage, social support, and workplace attitudes. A correlational analysis revealed significant correlations between bicultural competence, English language usage, social support, workplace attitudes and immigrant worker job satisfaction. Results from this study highlighted the importance of considering contextual influences such as workplace attitudes in developing research and practices to support the successful employment integration of immigrant workers

Afterword [to the Special Issue: Doctoral Seminar 2017 – An International Journey]

All the contributors to this special issue offered their insights on the impact of the International Doctoral Seminar (IDS) in their journey as doctoral students. More than this, their collaborative work demonstrates how the participants attained the primary interest of the seminar, which is to promote research collaborations by engaging in collaborative, interdisciplinary, scholarly activities. Reading the manuscripts in this Special Issue, we were honoured to be participants ourselves. We witnessed how authors selected essential details of their transcultural experience and perspectives, reflected on them, and gave them an order to thereby make meaning of what constitutes their international journey. Beyond what these manuscripts tell us about transculturalism, the importance lies in the multiple ways in which they worked through dialogue and collaborative work. Undoubtedly, papers presented in this Special Issue have helped to shed light on the positive impact this seminar has for doctoral students

Irony, narcissism and affect: a study of David Foster Wallace's Infinte Jest

This thesis contends with the critical paradigm in Wallace studies that posits affective interpersonal resolutions to a central ironic problem. I suggest that this 'x over irony' approach has reached something of a stalemate, especially in critical studies of Infinite Jest. I argue that a narcissistically operative irony isolates Infinite Jest's characters from interpersonal affectivity, but, at the same time, protects them from an engulfment threat; that is, isolation and engulfment form an affective double-bind in the novel that characters mitigate in singular ways. In the first chapter, I deal with the critical literature on Wallace, showing how Wallace's take on irony amounts to a criticism of its narcissistic uses. In the second chapter, I show how James Incandenza is the key figure of the isolating trajectory of the ironic-narcissistic defence. In the third chapter, I investigate Avril Incandenza in terms of the engulfment threat that relates to the horrific affects described in relation to psychotic depression. Lastly, I explore Hal and Orin in view of the isolation-engulfment double-bind in order to demonstrate the consequences of the narcissistic subjectivity in Wallace's fiction. Ultimately, I suggest that characters are caught in a two-sided affective threat that they mitigate, rather than resolve