The psychologists’ experience working with clients suffering from depression : a qualitative study

Abstract

The purpose for this study was to capture the lived experience of clinical and counselling psychologists working with clients suffering from depression. This study adopted an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach originally proposed by Smith (Smith & Eatough, 2007; Smith & Osborn, 2003). The sample for this study consisted of four psychologists (3 female clinical psychologists and 1 male counselling psychologist) who work with clients suffering from depression. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Four Superordinate themes emerged: “Challenged by the black hole”, “Taming the Monster”, “One cannot be Mother Teresa” and “ Finding meaning and purpose in life”. The participants discussed the challenges encountered when working with clients suffering from depression as well as the self-care strategies used to cope within this profession.