Finding my therapeutic voice: a heuristic enquiry into the power of magic

The process of becoming a psychotherapist can often be highly subjective and isolating. The literature around this process is focused on mainstream topics, such as: training, ethics and survival as a therapist; particularly after global events that effects the therapist stance. There seems to be missing links within the literature, around how a therapist finds their voice. Specifically, the way in which a therapist uses their internal landscape as a magical tool in deciphering their development and what they have experienced within their personal lives. This either aids or inhibits their psychotherapeutic development. In an attempt to address this gap within the field, a heuristic research study explored how a therapist was influenced by magical instances in order to find their voice as a therapist. The experience was captured by the researcher, who also played the role of the participant, in an expressive and personal dissertation. The participant was 28 years of age and a British, White/ Asian female. The participant had a clinical experience with counselling for ten years, and had been a qualified Psychotherapist for three years. This study focused on magical instances such as: magical thinking, dreams, parasocial relationships, symbolism, music and thanatophobia. Data were obtained through thematic analysis, where four superordinate themes were discovered. These themes demonstrated how the participant communicated with the unconscious mind, the internal processing and how magic affected the participants therapeutic abilities and skills. The research has contributed to the significant seldom topic of magic and how it is used by a practicing therapist, to make sense of psychotherapy and how magical instances can be applied to psychotherapeutic change.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Baker, Abeigail

• BF Seicoleg

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3073