Invitation to participate in a research study
Hi, my name is William Devas and I am a 4th-year Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling MSc student with Turning Point Institute (TPI). I am seeking participants for my dissertation entitled:
A phenomenological exploration of therapists’ experiences of having responded to humanitarian emergencies and how those experiences have impacted them personally and informed their therapeutic practice.
If you are an accredited psychotherapist or counsellor that has had at least six months experience of responding to international humanitarian emergencies for an INGO, a Red Cross/Red Crescent organisation, a UN institution or a donor (it does not matter whether your deployment was as a therapist or not) then I would be delighted if you would consider participating in this research. Your involvement would require doing an audio-recorded interview with me that would last approximately 60 minutes at a mutually agreed time and location.
Although there is considerable research highlighting the mental health risks faced by humanitarian aid workers (HAWs) there are limited studies qualitatively exploring the experience and personal impact of responding to humanitarian emergencies and none that I have found exploring how those experiences have informed therapists’ therapeutic practice. This research wishes to help fill these gaps in a modest way.
If you are interested in participating please contact me at my student e-mail address, 115144102@umail.ucc.ie and I can send you further information.
Thanks for your consideration
William Devas