The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 2 185 Table 1 Participants of the Study Participant Age Race/Ethnicity Gender Religious/Spiritual Affiliation Sexual Orientation Alma 37 Latina Woman Christian Heterosexual Amy 30 Latina Woman Christian Heterosexual Ashley 29 Multiracial Woman Spiritual Heterosexual Betty 55 White Woman None Heterosexual Elenore 30 Multiracial Woman Christian Queer Felicity 44 White Woman Christian Heterosexual Jennifer 40 White Woman Christian Heterosexual Liz 35 White Woman Pagan Bisexual Lynn 48 White Woman Christian Heterosexual Michelle 37 White Woman Christian Heterosexual Rose 30 White Woman Christian Heterosexual Sophia 35 White Woman None Heterosexual Thomas 34 White Man None Heterosexual Semi-Structured Interview Protocol We developed a semi-structured interview protocol to guide the interviews. We drafted the questions based on existing literature concerning counselors and personal therapy. The protocol consisted of six open-ended questions and follow-up prompts to understand the experiences of professional counselors who have engaged in personal therapy (see Table 2). Table 2 Interview Protocol Grand tour question: Please tell me about your experience in personal therapy in as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing. Follow-up: - What motivated you to seek personal therapy? - What was happening in your life at the time? - How did you go about selecting a therapist? - Can you tell me about what your internal process (thoughts/feelings) was like leading up to your decision to seek personal therapy? What outcomes did you experience as a result of personal therapy? How, if at all, has personal therapy affected your personal growth? How, if at all, has personal therapy affected your own clinical work? Describe the experience of being both a client and a counselor. - Some literature suggests that counselors feel stigmatized when seeking personal therapy. What do you make of this? How is that similar or different for you? Is there anything else that you would like to share?
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1