https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129117 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 03:20:25 GMT 2026-04-20T03:20:25Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132736 Title: Breaking the cycle of violent intimate partner relationships : the experience of post traumatic growth in survivors Abstract: This dissertation assesses how intimate partner violence (IPV) can impact women’s lives after breaking the cycle of violence and experiencing post traumatic growth (PTG). I have sought to understand the role that determination plays as an active component in progressing from being the victim to growing psychologically and finding new meaning in their life despite the adverse effects of the encountered trauma. This study consisted of five participants, all service users from SOAR. The participants were invited to share their personal journey, reflecting on their starting point to what they achieved today. The objective of this study revolves around their departure from abuse and their journey of post traumatic growth. As part of the research process, the author's own experience of IPV and journey to PTG was incorporated. The evidence in the study highlights the participants' need for psychological support to lead meaningful and functional lives. Utilizing a qualitative design, specifically an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA), the research conducted semi-structured interviews to reveal emergent themes capturing the significance survivors attribute to their lived experiences. The findings demonstrate the pivotal role of resilience in enabling victims to break free from the cycle of violence and rebuild their lives, exemplifying a strong element of PTG among all participants. Psychological support, alongside other supportive organizations, is shown to hold a significant place in the lives of these individuals. In conclusion, the study's results, counselling provisions, and recommendations for future research are thoroughly discussed and examined. Description: P.G.Dip. Couns.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132736 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129397 Title: An exploration of secondary traumatic stress in therapeutic professionals working with persons who sexually offend Abstract: Therapeutic professionals working with persons who sexually offend (PSO) may experience Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) encompassing of changes in behaviours, emotions, interactions, cognitions, spirituality and biology, that result from their direct work with individuals who share trauma content. Thus, this study aimed to highlight these challenges and promote the therapeutic professionals’ well-being, ultimately improving client outcomes in therapeutic spaces. Additionally, it sought to provide insights for counselling supervisors and therapists in supporting these professionals. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with therapeutic professionals from different therapeutic fields, using purposive sampling. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed to explore and analyse participants' unique experiences in depth. Findings showed that participants experienced negative emotions towards PSO clients who minimised or denied their actions. These emotions towards PSO were intensified when simultaneously working with both victims and PSO, highlighting the participants’ need to explore the pros and cons of their dual roles. Participants also expressed feelings of vulnerability and a desire for control in response to power dynamics exhibited by PSO. Effective emotion regulation, along with supervision on countertransference and power dynamics, emerged as essential strategies to address these challenges. STS effects spilled into their personal lives, leading to controlling parenting styles and hypervigilance. Malta's small size raised fears of personal information being traced for retaliation, and public encounters with PSO blurred professional and personal boundaries, making it difficult to detach from work. Protective factors identified in this study's recommendations included seeking support from their families, personal therapists, supervisors, and workplaces that ensure safety policies and procedures. Conversely, participants faced risk factors stemming from the lack of recognition and collaboration within the criminal justice system and among stakeholders. This highlights the importance of stakeholder training to reduce stigma on PSO and the work of therapeutic professionals, and to promote collaboration among service providers. Ultimately, therapeutic professionals must take a proactive approach in learning about and effectively managing STS to ensure a positive personal well-being and effective therapeutic outcomes. Description: M.Couns.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129397 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129396 Title: “That the therapist is experiencing unconditional positive regard toward the client” : counselling perpetrators of intimate partner violence Abstract: The unique contribution of unconditional positive regard (UPR) to the process of therapeutic personality change has never been identified over many years of quantitative research, despite it being widely recognised as a necessary therapeutic condition. Only more recent studies have highlighted the need for qualitative investigations. In this study, the subjective experience of UPR was explored in the context of the therapeutic encounter with perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced local therapists and an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of the data was carried out. The use of a well-established methodology and the reflexivity on both personal and methodological biases contributed to the trustworthiness of the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Faculty Research Ethics Committee and the participants’ confidentiality and wellbeing supported throughout the research. UPR emerged as a co-created experience which is conditional to the quality of the therapist’s perception of the client. This counterintuitive finding offered a characterisation of the therapist’s experience of UPR as an experience of relational safety rather than of constancy of positive feelings towards the client. It is recommended that further research focuses specifically on the co-created aspects of an ongoing therapeutic process to explore whether and in what forms the therapeutic conditions may emerge from both the therapist’s and the client’s experience. The integration of formative opportunities focused on meaning co-creation in counselling training is encouraged as well as consideration of the motivational disposition of perpetrators in devising treatment programmes and policies. Description: M.Couns.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129396 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129395 Title: Understanding the clients’ internalisation of the therapeutic process outside the counselling hour Abstract: Counselling is intended to provide an opportunity for clients to examine themselves and their lives introspectively and reflexively with the goal of fostering positive change. The internalisation of the therapeutic process can serve as a crucial gauge to assess the occurrence of this change and the achievement of therapeutic goals. The enduring impact of counselling is heightened when clients internalise the entire counselling process, that includes assimilating the therapeutic relationship and the persona of the counsellor. This study set out to ask how internalisation occurs and how it is manifested in daily life. Through narrative inquiry, the study employed semi-structured interviews with six participants recruited from gatekeeper organisations. Five participants were still engaged in counselling at the time of interview, and one participant had terminated. Narrative inquiry was the chosen approach to elicit a co-constructed meaning from the participants’ experience who played the crucial role of being co-researchers. Following thematic analysis four main themes emerged: (1) initiating counselling, (2) therapeutic relationship as foundation for internalisation, (3) the clients’ lived experience of change, and (4) carrying the counsellor and counselling in daily life. Each theme was further unfolded and a total of fifteen subthemes were identified. The main findings of the study emphasise the significance of the therapeutic relationship, counsellor attributes, a safe therapeutic environment, and the importance of making use of the intersession experience and mental representations of counselling as a way to gauge consolidation of the counselling process. Description: M.Couns.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129395 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z